Ifeyinwa Obi
26 April 2008
Lagos — The Custom Licenced Agents may have declared war on the Nigerian Customs Service over what it called unfair treatment and extortion of its members.
To this effect the ANCLA members on Tuesday halted the activities of the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal(KLT).
The Comptroller of the Command was however on hand to calm their frayed nerves . Although the situation was almost immediately brought to normalcy, the action of the rioters destroyed the Command's offices and equipments valued at several millions of naira.. ANLCA however stated that it was particularly embittered by the sharp practices of one Mrs Vickky Okoli, an Assistant Comptroller who is also the officer in charge of KLT Terminal phase 4.
Okoli, according to the Secretary of the Association of the Nigerian Licenced Custom Agents, KLT Chapter, Mr. Chidi Nnemadi, was alleged to be collecting N20,000 from every 20ft container that passed through her table and N50,000 for every 40ft container as well.
This he alleged has been going on for a long time, even as he also alleged that the woman's attitude had been brought to the knowledge of the CAC, severally, who he alleged did nothing to address the ugly situation which has been going on for close to a year.
Nnemadim, further alleged that the Assistant Comptroller holds on to the importers Single Goods Declaration form (SGO) if the agents fails to comply as she has instructed.
"The agents have been enduring this woman's excesses; the CAC would not call her to order. She would always refer you to junior officers who are her workers, who collect money for her, and no amount of pleading makes that woman change her mind. These N20,000 for 20 feet and N50,000 for 40 feet containers respectively are not receipted," he explained.
However, things came to a head yesterday following a face-off between the ANLCA, KLT Chapter chairman, Otunba Abiodu Ogunfowora who had gone to meet Okoli in her office over complaints by one of his members who alleged, that Okoli had held on to the Single Goods Declaration form of his container for four days for not parting with the normal N20,000 bribe as usual he alleged the woman called endorsement fees.
Eyewitness accounts, told Saturday Vanguard Business that Mrs. Okoli's excesses stretched to the extent of throwing the chairman of the association out of her office, and when the chairman insisted that she must hear her out, she ordered labourers inside the terminal to throw the chairman out.
"The woman asked the labourers to throw the chairman out of her office when he attempted to broker a truce . This singular action was a slight on the corporate image of ANCLA and that resulted in their invasion of the Custom Command CPC, breaking doors and chairs and bringing business activities to a halt as they chased the custom officers on duty with sticks and other weapons.
The account also stated that the angry agents, chanted war songs and displayed placards which read in beats - KLT Command is a rotten place; Bribery, corruption and extortion thrives on daily basis; Phase IV is tool bad; Mrs. Okoli must go; Buba Gyang do something; Custom hired labour to beat Clearing Agents with cutlass, bottles at KLT Command etc.
Narrating what transpired between him and the Assistant Comptroller in charge of the terminal, Mr. Okezie said:
"I am an agent from Apapa, I don't work here. It's just that I have 20 feet container here at KLT and I came to carry it. The container has been examined but, to my greatest surprise, after every other person has endorsed my paper the ok terminal did not sign. Rather they sent one of the examination officers to ask me to pay N20,000 which the officer said, is an endorsement fee.
I did not give in to that demand because I have been in this business for many years and I have not heard of anything like endorsement fee. I pleaded with the woman who held on to my SGD, but she stubbornly refused.
That was what prompted my going to the association chairman to lay my complaint. The chairman followed me to talk to the woman but she gave us deaf ears and today again the chairman came back with me and the woman demanded an apology from the chairman first before hearing him out for shouting in her office the previous day.
The chairman's refusal to tender apology prompted the woman to order labourers to throw the chairman out of her office which the labourers did and the agents got angry and started demonstrating."
Reacting to this, the National Vice President of the Association of Custom Licenced Agents, Mr. Dayo Azeez, condemned the attitude of some of the custom officers.
"This is not a proper thing to happen. It is because of the over-zealousness of some of custom officers that resulted into this kind of mess. How would the ok terminal hold on to someones SGD for four days when the service and the whole country is clamouring on the 48 hours clearance of cargo.
Their problem is that corruption has eaten into them and they cannot let go even after the reforms. We cannot continue to tolerate this kind of thing. I think we are in the era of doing the right time and doing it the right way as well. If the woman had seen an error on the paper, I think she should have done the appropriate thing .
There are procedures and measures to clearing process, and not holding on to the papers and worst still, demanding for N20,000. This is very shameful and unfair I must confess".
Azeez also condemned the employment of labourers to assault a whole chapter chairman threatening that the agent would withdraw its services throughout the nation if the custom officers should continue to assault them.
"I don't think if things continue the way it is, that the association would fold its arms and watch. We will withdraw our services if a similar thing happens again, and this would not be good for the industry and the economy as well. The Custom is not disciplined. The senior officer cannot correct a junior officer who is doing the wrong thing," he fumed .
Sharing similar view is Mr. Edoka, a freight forwarder and a member of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFE) who also condemned the Customs attitude, saying that this was not the first time Custom officers would molest a freight forwarder even if they are on their right.
Edokwa recalled a similar event which happened at PTML terminal of Tin Can Island Port. He said that it took the intervention of the CAC of that Command, Comptroller men to bring the situation to normalcy.
"The Customs can't do without agents just as the ports cannot function without the Customs. I think if there are two parties that should be too close in this industry, it should be agents and Customs but instead, the reverse is always the case. The problem is that the Custom men are greedy. Wherever they are, money changes hands. That is why they would always stick their neck, instead of leaving off a little bribe to pass them by.
"I work here. I know what is obtainable here. This woman has been doing this for a long time. The CAC has had several reports concerning the woman, yet, he did nothing about it. The worst mistake the woman did was to hire labour to beat up the agent, an association's chairman for that matter. Our resolution remains that the woman should leave the terminal. The woman and few others are the ones denting the name of the Service. She is crippling 48 hours cargo clearance and must leave the terminal."
In his reaction, the Public Relation Officer of the Command, Superintendent Jimo Bolajoko, denied the allegations of the Freight Forwarders.
He said, "I don't think the woman would go this far in hiring labour to beat up the association's chairman. Though they claim the labour confirmed she hired them, but I still doubt it. What stops the woman from asking the officers there to push him out if she really meant to push him out, but like I said, I was not at the scene, but I don't think, their chairman was assaulted like they claim".
Continuing, Bolajoko condemned the attitude of the agents stating that they have no right to destroy government properties for any reason whatsoever.
"I think each and every one of us is matured. Is it proper that the agents would invade the Command's Central Processing Unit, destroying things? Things like this are not the proper thing to do. There are other ways they should have laid their complaint. I was in my office, yet none of them came to tell me or the CAC what was happening in the terminal before invading the Command to destroy things and obstruct activities," he said.
He claimed the agents always indulge in wrong documentation which would resort the officer holding on to the SGD for proper clarification.
"Most times the agents indulge in wrong declaration and when you see something like this, you would not just sign because it's you that would go in for the outcome of the troubles that would come out of it. But these agents would insist you sign their papers even when they are not doing the right thing. No Custom officer would hold on an agents SGO if the documentation is correct."
Continuing, he implored the agents not to take the law into their hands in matters like this, adding that there are appropriate quarters for them to lay their complaints and it will be handled well instead of creating unnecessary unrest. He however, said, he would not say anything about allegations of extortions as the CAC had set up a committee to investigate it.
Meanwhile, the Command's Area Comptroller, Comptroller Julius Odogwu, had met with the Freight Forwarders Association executives, which include, the ANCLA, NAFAFF and the Managing Directors to deliberate on how to resolve the present situation. The CAC had assured them during the meeting that he would look into their plight, even as he had promised to bring sanity at Phase 4 terminal. He told them that he has set up a committee that is investigating the matter and promised to resolve it within the week.
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