ARBITRARY CHARGES: Freight Forwarders Threaten To Demarket ONE, Others In Nigeria

Freight agents under the auspices of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) ,has threatened to demarket activities of Japanese shipping line in Nigeria , Ocean Network Express (ONE) and others over alleged arbitrary charges imposed on shippers without refund.

The freight forwarders lamented that the activities of the shipping line must be addressed immediately before it cripple the maritime sub sector, calling on the federal government to intervene in the alleged setback faced by stakeholders.

Executive Chairman, Apapa Chapter of the association, Ndubuisi Uzoigbo in chat with newsmen on Monday, threatened to campaign negatively to ensure that importers and exporters desist from patronising some of the shipping lines.

He lamented that some of the storage charges and rents were being manipulated by the multinationals adding that the Liners lack business and human relationship with Nigeria shippers .

Despite describing some of the shipping companies as faceless, Uzoigbo stressed the urgent intervention from the federal government to engage the liners in resolving pricing and arbitrary charges adding that the Nigerian Shippers Council and the Council for the Regulations of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) have failed to tackle the numerous challenges faced by shippers and freight agents in cargo clearance at the seaports.

According to him, the shipping lines have allegedly monopolised shipping activities in Nigeria without any form of intervention from government .

He assured that moves are ongoing to embark on a peaceful demonstration over the alleged arbitrary charges by the multinationals in a bid to draw the attention of the government to their plights

He lamented that the shipping lines have failed to address issues of refund on container deposit , saying the frustration on the part of agents have render most of the players jobless.

The chairman also reiterated that plans are afoot to picketts some of the shipping companies that failed to evacuate empty containers from the port corridors and other parts of the country, noting that “Nigeria is not a dumping ground for expired containers”.

“Shipping companies are ripping Nigerians from their hard earn monies and the funny thing about the arbitrary charges is that it will increase the cost of buying and selling in our markets and the cost and standard of living in the country will be very expensive.

“The shipping lines have made things worst for us all and I think the best way out is to take the bull by the horn since we don’t have anybody to fight for us. The industry is shrinking because we are voiceless and nobody cares about us.”

By Roland Ekama