The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has withdrawn the taskforce which had contributed to delays in smooth cargo clearance at the Tin-Can and Apapa seaports.
Clearing agents operating at the Western Zone – Apapa and Tin-Can Island – had issued a 72-hour ultimatum for the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, over duplication of clearance processes at the seaports or agents would shut the ports.
At a joint press briefing held in Apapa, various associations including the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) lamented that the Customs boss had allegedly deployed a team from Abuja to checkmate activities of the various commands at the western zone which is slowing down cargo clearance.
The freight forwarders identified 10 units of customs constituting bottlenecks inside the port. Some of them include, CG Strike force, compliance team, Federal Operations Unit, Monitoring, Special Force, CG Task Force, Information team among others.
The Council for the Regulations of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN) had however prevailed on the clearing agents to shelve their planned strike and allow them intervene and engage the management of the Service.
But, in a statement by the Corporate Affairs Manager of the Council, Chinyere Uromta, the registrar of the Council, Barrister Samuel Nwakohu,commended the management of the Customs Service for withdrawing the task force hindering cargo clearance at the seaports.
Nwakohu, who further acknowledged the strides and relentless efforts to entrench sanity in the nation’s ports in order to guarantee a friendly and healthy business environment made the commendation recently in his office in Lagos.