HAPPENING NOW: Freight Forwarders Picket MSC Shipping, Others Over Hike in Charges
The various Freight Forwarding associations in the Nigerian maritime and blue economy space have today, Wednesday 18th March 2026, picketed the offices of major Shipping lines in protest against the recent hike jn shipping charges.
Scores of clearing agents were sighted at the offices of MSC Shipping along Commercial Road in Apapa, carrying different placards “MSC, Agents Say No to Exploitation” along others.
Speaking with DAILY TREND, the National Publicity Secretary of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Emmanuel Onyeme confirmed that the protest is supported by all the freight forwarding associations and that it cuts across all Shipping Companies who have recently increased their charges without recourse to dialogue.
“We have not come to terms with any Shipping company, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council told us in the month of January that there would be a stakeholders meeting and that they would call us to discuss this issue
“The Council also directed all the shipping companies to suspend the increment. But to our greatest surprise, we saw saw that the shipping companies have increased their charges.
“We kept calling the woman whom the Shippers Council boss had assigned to have interface with us; the Consumer Manager, Madam Ify, but she kept promising to call us for a meeting.
Onyeme confirmed that the shipping companies have increased their tariff since last week.
He also said that the protest action is cutting across all shipping companies that have increased their charges, including PIL, Lagos and Niger Shipping Company (LANSA), MSC Shipping among others.
President of Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) Otunba Frank in a chat with DAILY TREND also confirmed that his Association members are on ground for the ongoing protest against the Shipping companies.
Otunba Ogunojemite condemned the Shipping companies charges, describing it as inhumane, and that this would further lead to inflation and astronomical increase in cost of cargo clearance.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Trade Advocacy Committee in a letter dated 12th March, 2026 addressed to the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) had condemned the increase in shipping charges.
The Committee headed by Chief Increase Uche, vehemently opposed the approval granted to the shipping line agencies operating in Nigeria for an upward review of tariff by the Port Economic Regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
In a response dated 16th March, 2026, the Shipping Association of Nigeria, in a letter signed by its Chairman, Boma Alabi SAN, while appreciating the concerns raised by the NAGAFF Trade Advocacy Committee and acknowledging the importance of constructive engagement among all stakeholders within the maritime logistics chain, however, insisted that several assertions contained in the letter do not accurately reflect the regulatory process that preceded the approval of the tariff adjustment, nor the operational realities of international liner shipping operations in Nigeria.
According to Alabi, the tariff adjustment in question was not unilaterally implemented by shipping lines, nor was it granted arbitrarily. She argued that prior to granting approval, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, in its capacity as Port Economic Regulator, undertook an extensive review process which included but not limited to: detailed cost analysis submissions by shipping line agencies operating in Nigeria; a comprehensive regulatory assessment of prevailing economic conditions, including inflation, foreign exchange volatility, and operational cost escalations; stakeholder consultations and engagements conducted by the Council over an extended period; and multiple rounds of review and regulatory scrutiny lasting nearly two years before a final decision was reached.
