13 years after Nigerian seaports were
concessioned to private terminal operators, unauthorized persons fondly called 'Wharf rats', whose
activities range from container poaching/pilfering to vandalization of imported items are back
in the ports.
The development, which has assumed a new
dimension with perceived conspiracy of insiders, what stakeholders tag “Executive Wharf Rats” had been endured by
cargo importers for a long time until on July 17, 2019, when the Apapa Command
of Nigeria Customs Service reportedly foiled an attempt by an ambulance bus
smuggling 10 cartons of Tramadol out of AP Moller Terminal in Apapa port.
Before this interception, 211 cartons of the drugs with a duty paid value of
N59bn had been stolen out of the terminal.
Since then, incidents of container
poaching/pilfering and vandalization of imported vehicles have been reported
across the terminals, with the latest being at the Ports and Cargo Terminal.
The ambulance is owned by Medbury Medicals
Services contracted by the management of APM Terminals Limited to provide
healthcare services for its staff.
During an interrogation, the suspects – the
driver and escort – stated that they were engaged by some people whose names
they did not mention to use the ambulance to ferry the drugs out of the port to
an undisclosed destination.
An importer, James Iwore who spoke to National
Light said that incidents of container poaching have rather increased, saying
that prior to port concession, wharf rats were invading the ports through the
sea side, but today, they are aided by dockworkers, the staff of terminal
operators, customs officers, freight agents and their importers who have the Bill
Lading of the cargo.
On why importers did not raise alarm until
recently, Iwore said the importers’ hands are tied in such circumstance because
if he raises a petition in view of his stolen items, he can only be indemnified
by the Terminal company's insurance according to the content of the manifest,
disclosing that most importers don't make correct declaration, explaining that
if the importer is to be paid for the stolen goods he will lose at the end
because what is in the manifest is by far lesser than what he has in the
container. “I give an example. When Maerskline staff were bringing down my
container and it fell down and damaged my electronics, they asked me to come
forward with my claims, I did not go but
auctioned my goods because I would have lost more if I accepted to be paid
according to the manifest.
Reacting to reports of pilfering of containers
inside the port, the Chairman of Tin Can Island Chapter of the Association of
Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Segun Oduntan said that some
terminal operators in Nigeria lack the required standards for owning and
operating a port terminal.
Oduntan condemned the return of 'wharf rats to the ports adding
that damaging of general cargoes at
Apapa port and vandalizing of vehicles at the Tin Can Island port is an indication
that the terminal operators are not prepared to run terminals.
He said the return of 'wharf rats' is disturbing, saying that whenever any
incident of vandalization occurs, the agent is usually at loss because the
terminal operators don't pay compensations.
Oduntan said he has also been a victim of
pilfering of Vehicles at Tin Can Port when his four containers of Land Cruiser
Jeeps and Hilux Jeeps were vandalized.
He narrated that this almost soiled his
relationship with his client.
Oduntan said the agents never get to know the
level of damage to the vehicles or the cargoes until it has gotten to where the
containers would be offloaded.
To this end, the ANLCA Chairman advised
clearing agents to always go for examination of cargoes with a recording camera
in addition to their android phones, as well as a new padlock which they would
be able to identify if their containers were broken.
“There
is a standard requirement for you to own a terminal, just as there is a
standard for licensed customs agent to practice, if all the required standards
have been met by the terminal operators, we would not be experiencing all these
cases of pilfering”
“You can imagine somebody importing land
cruiser vehicles and Hilux of four containers, and upon getting out of the
port, they got to where they would discharge and my boys called me to say that the
brainbox, the side mirror and other parts of the vehicles have been removed, I
took pictures of everything”
“The problem is that we never get to know the
level of damage to these vehicles until when we get to where the containers
would be offloaded, this is the only area that Ports and Cargo has used against
us. The vandals broke the container and put another similar lock”
“My advice is this; when you are coming for
your cargo examination, bring your own padlock from outside , don't buy the
general padlock that they sell around the port, so that when you are taking
delivery of your container, once you notice anything strange about the padlock,
before it exits the terminal, you must open that container and look at the
cargo”
“But what happens is that most of these agents,
due to some exigencies, it is one person that goes for the examination, and
when the container is being released, it is another person that goes for it.
And once that container exits the terminal, the terminal operators would not be
held liable”
“So, my advice to agents, is that if you get to
my operational office, I bought a camera which everyone of my staff going for
examination of cargoes has to use, apart from their phones, immediately after
the close of every examination, we transfer the recording of that examination
into our system. So if there is a case of pilfering on any container, there is
evidence to show” he said.
Oduntan however argued that terminal operators
should be held liable because they are supposed to provide adequate security
for cargoes kept inside their terminals.
He stressed that if the terminal owners are
made to pay compensations, they would have known how to protect their terminal
against pilfering and vandalization.
He lamented that the port environment and terminals
are always dark at night due to poor lighting.
According to him, even though the Nigerian
Ports is subscribed and operates in line with the International Ships and Ports
Facility (ISPS) Code, the ports are not well illuminated.
“Part of the requirements of ISPS Code is that
the port terminals should be lightened up and security put in place, if you
come to the port area at night, you will see the whole area dark”, he said.
The
Maritime Workers' Union of Nigeria (MWUN) had also called on terminal operators
to improve their lighting equipment and overhaul security personnel in a bid to
stop further vandalization of cargoes at the terminal.
The
Union has also cautioned unit and district officers at the terminal to desist
from any form of connivance with officials to pilfer or vandalize consignment
at the terminals.
The union President of MWUN, Comrade Adewale
Adeyanju, had threatened to expel members of the union found wanting of any act
of stealing at the ports, and charged management of the terminal to illuminate
the facility, saying that it is not useful to have a Camera Circuit Television
(CCTV) to be strategically positioned in the terminal without proper lighting.
Adeyanju
also warned his officers to henceforth desist from participating in examination
of cargoes at the terminal, even as he stressed the need for the dockworkers to
conduct themselves while at work at the facility.
He also
called on management of the Ports and Cargo terminal to fix the security lapses
at the terminal, which he alleged, could have resulted to criminals invading
the terminal to vandalize containers belonging to importers.
His
words, “When I heard that the things that had been buried in the past have
started surfacing again, I was quite worried about where such practice is
coming from.
“We have
made it known to the management of the terminal that they should go and put
their security in place. If they have CCTV, they should be able to identify who
and who is responsible for the pilfering.
“If you
go to APMT now, before you enter their gate, they know somebody is coming, if
ordinary pin drips at night, they will see it.
That is
the CCTV we are talking about not the one you have and there is no light in the
terminal, how do you expect the equipment to work effectively?
“These
are the things that I think the management should put in place in addressing
the situation before them.
“I don't
want anyone to put the name of the union in bad light. That is why I called the
branch officers of dock workers and part of my meeting with them is to read my
own riot act.
“Any of
my workers, any Labour or any unit or district officer that gets himself
involved in stealing or conniving with anyone to steal will be expelled from
the union,” he warned.
Comrade Adeyanju called on the management of
the terminal to resolve the issue of security lapses in the port that gave rise
to criminals' invasion of the terminal, to vandalize containers.
“I had to go underground and found out that
these problems are coming from Ports and Cargo. Not only Ports and Cargo,
others still cover their own.
“What I
did today was to call all the union officers; the local units and I said, 'if
you don't have a thief in your house, an outside one will not come in'.
Industry players are also of the view that
importers and their Freight Forwarders or customs brokers, who have the bill
lading of the imported items, customs officers and terminal workers should also
be cautioned to stay clear from any conspiracy that may lead to vandalizing,
poaching or pilfering containerized items in any terminal.
In his view, a freight forwarder, Prince Bakare
Adeyinka accused customs of shielding
erring officers involved in container examination infractions.
Prince Adeyinka said that open and transparent
disciplinary measures on its officers and men who are found culpable in
releasing containers intercepted by its operatives on the highways would help
to curb the menace.
Adeyinka who is the President General of NAFFAC
stated that it was not enough for the customs management to always shield its
officers arrested in connection with these consignments.
Adeyinka observed that to stem the tide of
smuggling and infractions in cargo clearance, the importer, his agent as well
as the customs officers found culpable should be named and shamed much as they
are punished for the crime.
He further challenged the service to carry the
public along in any disciplinary measure purportedly adopted to punish its
erring officers just as the Nigeria Police do in order to restore public
confidence in the entire process. In his words, “We are doing 100% examination
of cargo at the seaport for instance, not using scanners, some agencies'
officers will inspect the containers and somebody will lift the box before it
is loaded and driven out of the port. After arresting the container, what
happens to those that released the container?
“They should give us the internal mechanism
that is not known to us, let us see the internal mechanism that they are using.
The police will tell you we dismissed this officer because of this, we arrested
this officer because of this, this officer was taken to court because of this.
That is the internal mechanism that we are talking about. “Why giving us number
of people that we do not know? Who are they? Currently they are doing
destruction of Tramadol, who are the people behind it? It is not enough to say
they are destroying Tramadol. Who are the agencies behind it, who are the
freight forwarders behind it” who are the shippers? What is the country of
origin what diplomatic steps has government taken against them for allowing
those shipments?
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