Shippers’ Council Decries Delay In Cargo Clearance At Nigerian Ports

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has decried the amount of time being spent by importers to clear their cargoes at the various sea ports in the country.

It said Nigerian Ports have the record of being the ports with the longest time of 21 days for cargo clearance in the world while countries like Singapore and Togo, spend about six hours.

NSC Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Jime, disclosed this on Thursday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while speaking at a one-day training workshop organised by the country for men and officers of the Maritime Police Command with the theme, “Understanding the role and impact of the Police in the Maritime Industry”.

Jime, who was represented by the Director, South-South zone, Mr. Glory Onojedo, blamed the delay on the presence of several agencies and groups at the ports.

He said: “The Nigerian sea ports have the record of being the ports with the longest cargo clearing time in the world. While it takes six hours to clear cargo in Singapore and almost same time in Lome, Togo, it takes an average of 21 days to do so in any of the Nigerian ports.

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“This is because of undue interference by so many groups that are not supposed to interfer in cargo movement as well as some groups that are not supposed to be in the ports. Statutorily, only about several groups are supports to be at the ports but every agency is agitating to be in the ports. In spite of the delays, they extort money from consignees at the ports.”

Also speaking during the workshop, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Maritime Police Command, Ibrahim Kaoje, said there was the need for training and retraining of maritime security operators due to pockets of security concerns within the country’s maritime domain.

Kaoje, who was represented by the Commissioner of Police in-charge of Rivers Port Command, Mrs. Evelyn Peterside, commended the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for its thoughtfulness to train the police personnel in the sector.

He said: “Since the ocean holds the key to the fast revolving global order, the oceans are the cradle of civilization and civilization can only prosper when the sea is safe, secured and free from all forms of security threats.

“With pockets of security concerns in the Nigerian maritime domain, the need for training and retraining of maritime security operators, which the Police is one of the stakeholders cannot be over-emphasized.

“It is at this juncture, I commend strongly, the efforts of the organisers of the programme, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, for her thoughtfulness to train the police personnel in the sector.”