The ongoing strike action embarked upon by clearing agents at the APM terminals in Lagos state in protest of purppoted high charges and poor services by terminal operators, might as well turn into a nationwide strike by all seaports before the week runs out.
The strike which started since Monday, November 3, 2014, has led to the obstruction of the APM terminals and they threthen to take extend the strike action across the nation after a joint meeting on Friday, November 14, 2014.
A nationwide strike by customs agents and freight forwarders was necessary owing to the undearable huge sums they were compelled to pay by terminal operators, shipping agencies and government regulatory agencies, said the President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, Mr. Olayiwola Shittu.
Shittu accused government agencies like the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service and Standards Organisation of Nigeria of arbitrarily charging the customs agents and freight forwarders.
He said, “All regulatory agencies like NESREA, SON, NAFDAC and NAQS are all making money illegally under the guise of internally generated revenue.
“Imagine a situation where NAFDAC, without any warning, increases all its charges by 100 per cent. Formerly, if you want to register a product that you plan to import into Nigeria with NAFDAC, it used to be N400,000; now it is N2m.This is what we are suffering from agencies that are appropriated funds annually by the National assembly.
“SON is just as guilty. Now they are charging N20,000 per vehicle to carry out pre-shipment inspection of used vehicles. They started this from November 1, 2014. They also charge N3,500 for every 20 feet container that comes into the country and N7,000 for every 40 feet container; they call it handling fee. All these charges are illegal and will eventually translate to high cost of goods for the end user.”
The president further disclosed that efforts made by clearing agents to reach a compromise with the management all proved abortive as the complaint letters written to them were vehemently ignored which made the next option to be a strike action.
He described the strike at the APM terminals as a rehearsal of what would eventually happen nationwide if the Federal Government failed to intervene.
He added that a detailed report of all illegal charges at the ports had been prepared and would be sent to the President for his consideration before the agents and freight forwarders would withdraw their services.
Meanwhile, a meeting had been scheduled for the national executives of ANLCA and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 to discuss the way forward.
“We are going to give an ultimatum and after that start the strike to bring government’s attention to what is happening at our ports,” Shittu said.
The spokeman for the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Bolaji Akinola said, “The blockade of the APM Terminals is simply a reckless act capable of hurting the nation’s economy. STOAN is calling on the police, NPA and other concerned authorities to clear the blockade and allow those who wish to clear their cargoes at the affected terminal to have access to it.”
