Barge Operators Demand NPA Probe Into Apapa Berth Exclusion Plot

Indigenous barge operators in Nigeria are decrying the Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA) inaction as terminal operator APM Terminals (APMT) dominates barge operations at Apapa Port, sidelining local businesses and violating port regulations.

Operators accused the NPA of neglecting its core mandate to oversee equitable berth access, enforce concession terms, and promote local content, allowing the crisis to escalate unchecked.

The National President of the Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN), Olubunmi Olumekun, highlighted the NPA’s oversight failures, noting that APMT has cornered berthing windows, acquired GMT Shipping as its exclusive barge partner, and even influenced Eko Support Terminal to block alternatives.

According to him, the NPA has failed to intervene despite repeated complaints, saying, “APMT is taking over barge operations, denying us berthing windows and local content opportunities, yet the NPA looks the other way,”

Olumekun pointed out that barge operators have been shut out of APMT’s berths, hence had resorted to dropping containers at Eko Support Terminal for trucking to APMT.

He framed this as the NPA sabotaging President Bola Tinubu’s local content and blue economy goals, urging the Federal Government, Senate, and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy to compel the NPA to act. “The NPA must perform its role to protect indigenous operators and ensure port equity.”

 

The President added that APMT’s “kangaroo agreement” with Eko Support Terminal severed this option—another lapse in NPA enforcement of fair competition rules.

Olumekun further criticized the NPA for allowing unchecked hikes in terminal handling charges, from N50,000 to nearly N300,000—a 300% jump that makes barge haulage unviable compared to road transport (N250,000 for a 40-foot container from Apapa to Oshodi).

The BOAN boss reiterated that”With barge costs now at N700,000–N800,000 due to these charges, bunker, crew, and labour, how can we decongest roads? The NPA must regulate these monopolistic practices.”

The operators also blasted the NPA over the common user finger jetty in Apapa, reserved by the Federal Government and not concessioned to any terminal, yet effectively controlled by GMT Shipping (APMT’s partner).

“We’ve written the NPA multiple times about foreigners chasing us out, but they do nothing despite our equipment and cranes ready to operate it,” Olumekun said.

Worse, Olumekun noted the NPA’s failure to enforce international standards and concession agreements mandating 50 meters of berth space for emergency or barge operations—a rule APMT flagrantly ignores, unlike other ports like Tin Can Island, where costs remain competitive.

Similarly, BOAN’s Director of Enforcement and Operations, Nura Wagani, echoed the frustration: “The NPA allowed charge hikes without consulting us, crippling our business nationwide. Trucks cost N280,000 per container versus N580,000 for barges—patronage has dried up, all because of APMT’s unchecked dominance at Apapa.”