A group with its membership drawn from the various freight forwarders who operate in the nation’s ports and border routes appears set to eliminate illegal checkpoints and other infractions militating against international trade in the country.
The group codenamed, National Compliance Joint Taskforce of Licensed Clearing Agents (NCJIFLCA), which has its members drawn from the six major clearing and forwarding associations, said it has taken up the challenge to eliminate such illegal checkpoints set up by Customs, immigration and police.
Addressing journalists at the Apapa secretariat of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), Thursday, they said such nefarious bottlenecks on the roads were primarily designed to extort Nigerians and indirectly increase the cost of living in the country.
The group, which is fortified with approved security personnels also vowed to stop illegal seizures of duly cleared consignments at the ports by operatives of the Customs Federal Operations Unit (FOU).
Speaking on behalf of the group, Dr. Basil Chudi Nwolisa, while affirming that these illegalities have put Nigeria in a bad light among the comity of nations, said would no longer be business as usual for the perpetrators.
According to him, the Nigerian Port Industry is currently facing numerous man-made challenges, primarily stemming from human weaknesses, adding, “The most pressing issues include non-compliance with established rules and regulations, such as the ALERT system; deliberate withholding of container deposit refunds by shipping companies; frequent arrests and seizures by the FOU officials, of containers duly examined and released by authorized Customs officers and other federal government agencies; delays experienced by Customs Clearing Agents at the hands of terminal operators; and extortion of Nigerian trucks on highways.
Dr. Nwolisa noted that, ‘these challenges have become an embarrassment to our country before the international trade community’.
He further pointed out that the group was formed to help Nigeria and Nigerians overcome corruption in the maritime industry and on our highways.
Justifying the group’s visit to the journalists press centre to seek for collaboration of the pen pushers, Nwolise pointed out that ‘we cannot achieve this goal alone and hereby invite the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria to collaborate with us to ensure the success of this noble project’.
He pledged that with this collaboration and in ‘the next 12 months’, every Nigerian, including MARAN, will be proud of what the Taskforce would have achieved in this direction.
Arguing that the multiplicity of checkpoints by Customs is not in the interest of Nigerians but for some people to enrich their pockets, he said, ‘If somebody brought goods, and they’re examined in the port, and they’re released in the port, what business do Customs have to stop it? he queried
‘We are just trying to educate Nigerians and tell them that the road blocks and the checkpoints are bringing shame to us, and it is also increasing the cost of goods in the market’.
He lamented a situation where genuine Nigerians who transport perishable commodities across cities have been frustrated and put out of business by these illegal checkpoints created by even narcotic officers the likes.
The group, which had all its officers in attendance, was received by the newly inaugurated MARAN Caretaker Committee led by its Chairman, Pastor Tunde Ayodele.
