The Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) of the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) has accused personnel of the Nigerian Customs Services and other relevant government agencies at the seaports of illegal collection of large quantities of product samples during cargo examination thus never returned back to the importers.
Coordinator of the PSTT, Comrade Moses Fadipe stated this on Tuesday when he paid a working visit to the secretariat of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) .
Fadipe who is also a deputy director at the Nigerian Shippers’Council, also told the gathering of dockworkers that the infractions against Nigerian officials at the port in 2020 was 161, but in 2021 it reduced to only 21.
Continuing, the coordinator stated that dockworkers are being used to convey these illegal samples out of the port, describing cargo sample collection by government officials as illegal .
He added that dockworkers should not act as errand boys to the customs or immigration officers at the port terminals, adding that the task team has equally reduced the amount of government officials boarding vessels at berths.
The coordinator noted that” Unlike before, vessel waiting time has reduced drastically because within an hour of arrival, the vessels must break bulk.”
He warned the dockworkers to stop helping Customs officers and other government agencies in carrying product samples out of the port.
“As our government officials start boarding these vessels, they are letting us know in real time and what they are requesting for.
“I have met with the Customs highest authorities and at the command level and I have told them that nobody will samples for any officer again.
“We have made seizures in the last four months and it has filled two twenty foot containers to the brim within two months, we seize samples everyday.
“We have a form called same form, and we now compelled them to fill that form, and ask them to go and call the official that own the sample, but they would never show up.
“We are reaching a stage now whereby, we would be arresting anyone caught with such samples.
He said, “Anyone that is being victimised for rejecting to convey samples for any government official should report to the PSTT and to the MWUN Secretariat” he said
The NPPM PSTT comprising Nigerian Shippers’Council, Nigerian Ports Authority, Department of State Security (DSS) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) are the agencies constituted by the Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo to implement the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in the maritime industry.
Coordinator of the PSTT, further said the team has put in place mechanism for crowd control within the ports premises, appealing for the union’s members to work closely with the standing committee to facilitate trade and enhance efficiency at the seaports.
On his part, President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju promised that the union is committed to work with the PSTT in order to bring sanity to the Nigerian Port system.
He said that the NPPM PSTT has brought efficiency to the port .
Furthermore, Adeyanju assured that the practice of conveying samples on behalf of government officials is giving the union a bad name and it has stopped forthwith
He equally warned that any member of the union caught to be working in collaboration with drug peddlers automatically would seize being members of the union.
“Part of what you see today is what we have been doing in the past in terms of sensitization, we would continue to speak to our members and educate them, they must not be used by any agency to carry things that does not belong to them” he said.
Similarly, Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli, President of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA Branch) of the Union said the PSTT cannot function without MWUN, describing the visit as a step in the right direction.
“You cannot rule out the fact that some NPA staff can also use their identity cards to sneak out samples from the port. He said the inspection has to be holistic” Mazeli stated
Also speaking, Comrade Ibrahim Ohize, Dockworkers Branch President of MWUN stated that the President General has earlier given a directive that no dockworker should be an errand boy to Customs officials in taking and conveying samples out of the port.
“We kick-started this at APM Terminals last week following the PG’s directive. I want to assure you that with the leadership of MWUN we have today, the era of hooliganism in the port has gone.
“The PG (Comrade Adeyanju) has been warning us, all the dockworkers in the past three years, he has been calling several meetings and warning not to involve in any illegality at the port” Ohize confirmed
