By Godfrey Bivbere STAKEHOLDERS in the maritime industry have raised an alarm over high-level of smuggling through operations at the vario...
By Godfrey Bivbere
STAKEHOLDERS in the maritime industry have raised an alarm over high-level of smuggling through operations at the various private jetties scattered across the nation’s waterfront, even as they warmed about the security implication of an unregulated operations at these facilities.
Private jetties are licensed by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA; the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA; and the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, making effective regulation complicated.
Effective regulation
The stakeholders allege that some of these private jetties are so big that vessels even berth there illegally without the knowledge of the relevant government agencies.
They also said the smuggling operations are made possible by the absence of the relevant security personnel, creating room for owners of the facilities, some of whom are foreigners, to operate unhindered.
They also fingered some staff of the regulatory agencies and some security agencies as complicit in the smuggling of consignments and illegal clearance of same through these facilities.
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In an exclusive chat with Vanguard Maritime Report, former President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Inuwa Mohammed, confirmed the development adding that the Federal Government must take immediate action to curtail the level of illegalities going on in some of these facilities.
Mohammed expressed worry over the exact number of private jetties in the country, pointing out that as a result of the large and un-accounted number, security agencies are not deployed to all the facilities.
He said: “The issue of private jetties is a big problem. Most of what they do is that they assist in smuggling because they operate on their own and from their own terminals. And they connive with other depots because the Customs will not have eyes everywhere. If Customs cannot control our borders, is it the private jetties that they will now send people to monitor? So this should not be allowed; it should be controlled.”
Other industry sources said the congestion in Lagos ports has resulted in the proliferation of private jetties across the waterways.
One of them said: “There is no regulation of private jetties and the private jetties have scattered all over riverine areas including Lagos coastal areas. How many of them are manned by the security agents? How many of them are approved?
“The movement of overtime cargoes by barges was initiated to transfer some overtime cargoes to Ikorodu terminal to be conveyed to the port. Now along the line, clearing agents and terminal operators and some staff of government agencies in connivance with some security agencies, cut deals and load other containers in the guise of taking them to Ikorodu and from there they drop the select containers at the agreed private jetty.
“There was a day I saw one berth under the Third Mainland Bridge on the way to Ikorodu. Some of these private jetties are big that even vessels berth there.
They are unregulated, unprotected, and unsupervised. You know some are misused; if you go there during the day you will not see any activity but in the middle of the night if you go there you will see activities. Before 5.00 a.m everybody disappears and they will make it look like it is a disused private jetty.
“There was a case about Apapa port manager that went to one of such private jetties in the waterfront houses in Apapa and they nearly killed her because they believed that she was coming to interfere.
The issue is that most of these containers being transferred are not overtime because the clearing agents do deals with these people that are in charge of the overtime containers to Ikorodu; they give them money, they select their containers that are not overtime, and they pick them and put on those barges.”
The Apapa Residents Association has made the same allegation that all the waterfront houses are being turned into illegal private jetties.
The Federal Government had set up two presidential committees to look at the private jetties at a time there were not as many as they are today. The committee identified all the private jetties in Nigeria, their locations, their owners and level of operation.
The committee was headed by then National Security Adviser. There was a report and since after that report, they set up another committee to look at the report and nothing came out of it.
When contacted on the number of private jetties in operations, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Adams Jato, said, that the Authority licensed 58 private jetties.
He said: “Approved jetties under NPA jurisdiction are classified under pilotage district as follows: Six in Calabar pilotage district, nine in Port Harcourt/Bonny district, 29 in the Lagos pilotage districts and 14 in Warri pilotage district respectively. Approval for private jetties is always granted by Federal Ministry of Transportation committee on private jetties.
“NPA conveys approval and issues licences. Security of the jetties is the responsibility of the jetty owners under the supervision of Navy.”
When contacted, the General Manager of Corporate Affairs of NIWA, Tayo Fadile told Vanguard Maritime Report that he was not in the position to speak on the issue. Fadile directed our reporter to either the area manager in charge of Lagos or the director in charge of marine. Vanguard Maritime Report could, however, not connect either of them at press time.
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