Hyacinth Chinweuba
The new Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police Command (Western) Muhammad Uba Kuka has visited the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman in her office.
The visit is coming few days after members of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) led by the Acting President, Dr. Kayode Farinto paid a similar visit to Usman to complain about extortion involving the police posted to the nation’s ports.
In a statement by the Public Affairs Department of the NPA, both Usman and the Police Commissioner during their discussion promised to “uphold highest standards and degree of operational efficiency across board in line with best practices so as to move the sector forward”.
Further details as to what the two discussed were not known as at the time of filing this report.
Speculations were rife that part of the reasons for the visit may be to also respond to some of the issues raised against the Police at the ports.
However, Kayode had accused the Police of working against the Ease of Doing Business at the ports by engaging in extortionist tendencies.
He was quoted saying, “the Inspector General of Police should come to the port and see how the maritime police have left there statutory functions and now obtain manifest from shipping companies and stopping containers and are calling agents for settlement in which N150,000 is being paid per container.
“Government agencies at the ports appear to be bigger than the federal government they are working for and also flouting orders given by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) with impunity and no sanction is meted to them. Are they now bigger than the country?
“We cannot continue to pretend, there is total systems collapse in the maritime industry. Hence the FG should stop deceiving Nigerians and stop shouting about ease of doing business because it has been abused.”
The meeting with Usman according to the Publicity Secretary of the Association, Mr Joe Sanni was mainly to bring to the “notice of the MD/CEO some challenges faced by the members of the Association in the course of carrying out their businesses in the Ports, and seek her support in tackling them”
The Acting National President, Farinto pointed accusing fingers with supporting documents, at the Maritime Police, under the AIG Maritime at Moloney Street, Lagos, for interfering with cargoes that have been duly examined and properly released by Customs from the Ports, and then denied exit by the Maritime Police through letters to the Shipping Companies and Terminal Operators.
This practice has been sustained over the years despite countless complaints and, the fact that the Nigeria Police, through the Port Authority Police (PAP) Command participates in Customs Joint Examination of Cargoes, upon which they are eventually released.
Farinto pleaded with the NPA MD to kindly intervene by bringing the anomaly to the notice of the IGP, advising that both PAP and Maritime Police should be collapsed into one, if need be.
He raised the issue of non-implementation of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB), as envisaged by the Executive Order signed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
ANLCA, he said, is willing to assist NPA in enforcing the order , using their Chapters structure, if NPA officially intimates stakeholders, especially ANLCA.
Usman had following the complaints from the agents requested for a formal letter to her office complaining about the Maritime Police interference with duly released cargo, by issuing a “STOP RELEASE/DETENTION OF CONTAINERS” letter to shipping companies and Terminal operators for her necessary action.
She promised to visit the IGP, in order to find a lasting solution to the unnecessary interference of the Maritime Police with cargo clearance.