ANLCA Calls on IGP Tunji Disu to Reopen Lagos Airport Secretariat, Says FG Losing Revenue

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has called on the new Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to urgently intervene in the prolonged closure of its secretariat at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) chapter in Ikeja, Lagos, warning that the federal government is losing significant revenue as a result.

The Western Zone Coordinator of the association, Alhaji Femi Anifowose, on Tuesday accused CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Commissioner of Police for the MMIA, of deliberately refusing to reopen the office despite clear directives from the former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Anifowose made the accusations at a press conference and protest staged at the ANLCA national headquarters in Lagos, flanked by placard-carrying members. The placards bore inscriptions such as “Police Should Obey the Law and Open Our Secretariat at the MMIA Chapter Ikeja” and “IGP, Please Intervene and Protect the Image of Nigerian Police,” among others.

“This woman has refused to open the ANLCA office at the airport despite instructions from the former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. She refused to honor this directive because some of the stakeholders were going to her office and giving her money,” Anifowose alleged.

He said the continued shutdown was directly undermining the association’s regulatory function and costing the government dearly.

“If the secretariat is not opened, we are not settled, and we are part of the revenue generating body for the Federal Government of Nigeria, the government is losing a lot of revenue now because this woman refused to open our secretariat.”
“For almost a year now, the secretariat has been shutdown. I don’t know maybe this woman has power more than the IG of Police,” he added.

Tracing the origins of the crisis, Anifowose said the dispute began with an internal leadership tussle at the airport chapter. “We had some issues with some of our members, one of them is Adewusi Bamgbala who spent 3-years plus as Chairman, and his tenure has expired.

After this, another man, Bola Ashiru came in through the back door. Now, he doesn’t have a registered license with the Corporate Affairs Commission, and the Customs has reversed his license, and he is no longer a member of ANLCA. However, some of the stakeholders at the airport are supporting him.”

He said the association had since resolved its internal differences and installed a new chapter chairman, but the police officer was frustrating efforts to formalise that resolution.

“We know there was internal wrangling, but we have settled it. Somebody has now been positioned as the Chairman of the Airport Chapter and that is Tope Akindele, in which the Commissioner of Police refused him to resume at the Secretariat because of what she is getting from some stakeholders.”

Anifowose said the association obtained a federal high court order affirming that ANLCA’s assets belong to its Board of Trustees (BoT), which was verified and endorsed by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (Legal). A subsequent letter was sent to the Commissioner directing the handover of the secretariat keys but she still refused to comply.

“The BOT are the custodian of association’s assets and liabilities, we had a court order from the federal high court, the police came to verify the court order and it was signed by the AIG Legal, after which a letter was sent to the Commissioner that all properties of the association belong to the BOT, but she refused to release the key to the secretariat.”

“Subsequently, the IG wrote a letter that the key should be given to us, but the woman refused, saying that we should go back to Abuja.”
The BoT chairman, Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha, and other association leaders had also visited the police command in a bid to resolve the matter but left empty-handed. “We went with the BoT chairman and other leaders to meet the police authorities. We were told to provide an undertaking, which we did, yet the keys have still not been released to us,” Anifowose stated.

He said attempts at direct dialogue had similarly been rebuffed. “She has not even made any attempt to resolve the matter on a roundtable discussion with us, we are the ones going to her office, the last time I went to her office, she refused to see me.”

Anifowose stressed that there was no record of any violence at the secretariat that could justify the continued lockout, noting that customs agents are a professional and law-abiding body. He said the closure had left members scattered, weakened internal coordination and was hampering trade facilitation at the airport.
“Because of this decision, the government is losing money and the activities of licensed customs agents are being affected,” he said.

He issued a pointed warning to the new police chief: “We are calling on the new Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu to help us call the woman to order, if not, things may escalate and we don’t want that.”

Efforts to reach the Commissioner of Police for a response to the allegations were unsuccessful, as calls and messages sent to the command were not returned as of press time.