Over 200 Customs Officials To Vacate Lilypond Terminal ,As NPA Reclaims Facility

By Roland Ekama

 

There are strong indications that officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service may vacate the Lilypond terminal following moves by the Nigeria Ports Authority to retain the facility for trucks call up system.

 

The Lilypond terminal based in Ijora Lagos, is a dry port with a full fledged command of customs and other security agencies .

 

Dailyfocus News Online correspondent who visited the facility last week, gathered that the ongoing rehabilitation works have been halted .

 

Insider source revealed that the customs officers at the facility will be asked to leave saying that management of the service might be forced to redeploy its personnel to various commands under zone A.

 

It was gathered that over 200 customs are deployed to the Ijora based terminal,even as 95% are currently jobless.

 

Our source who prefer anonymous, disclosed that ,letters have been written to the Area Controller of Lilypond Command over the development which in turn has created mix feelings for the stakeholders operating in the facility.

 

As a way of addressing the perennial gridlock bedeviling Apapa port access roads in Lagos, management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have decided to convert Lilypond terminal in Ijora to a Truck park

 

Confirming this to our reporter, Engr. Adams Jatto, NPA’s General Manager in charge of Public Affairs, said the move became imperative as a way of addressing the traffic crises facing Lagos ports.

 

Jatto disclosed that NPA had to revoke a five year lease agreement it had earlier entered with Lilypond Container Terminal Limited.

 

According to him, the authority will resume activities there to do some expansion work and ascertain the number of trucks to be accommodated at the Ijora facility.

 

He added that NPA will adopt an orderly electronic call up system for trucks to be parked in the terminal before they access the ports in Lagos to address the traffic issues.

 

Jatto had earlier disclosed that NPA leased it out with effect from September 2018 after its initial ten year lease expired in 2016.

 

Jatto said in a statement that “Lilypond Container Terminal was erroneously concessioned ab-initio, this was because the said terminal does not have a water front for loading and offloading of cargo.

 

” Consequently, after the expiration of the lease, the terminal was however reclassified and granted a five year development lease ”

 

Findings indicates that NPA made a total of N565,142,063:36k from lease of the facility in 2017 and N560,734,047: 00k in 2018. This makes a total of less than N1.2m in two years

 

With the revocation, container terminal operator, APM Terminals Apapa, may have lost influence over control of the facility.

 

Clearing agents operating at the terminal had complained of about 300 job loss due to the idle state of the facility and alleged refusal by APMT to stem containers there.