Thirteen years after port concession, the old order appears to be on the horizon with the return of ‘wharf rats’ to the Lagos ports. MUYIWA LUCAS writes
Last July, members of the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) were in happy mood. The Command had intercepted an ambulance loaded with 10 cartons of 225mg Tramadol drugs at the Apapa Port, Lagos, which its Customs Area Controller, Muhammed Abba-Kura, said were worth N59.8 million.
Besides that the vehicle allegedly belonged to a service provider at the port, more worrisome about the incident was the modus operandi in which the drugs were stolen. “Investigation shows that the Tramadol drugs were pilfered from an undeclared container. Physical examination reveals that 211 cartons of the drugs were missing from the container. The Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the stolen drugs stands at N59.4 million,” Abba-Kura said, adding that the container was neither declared nor positioned for examination; its original seal was broken.
For stakeholders in the industry, this incident was a confirmation of the return of pilfering of containers and other goods at the port.
Before the 2006 ports concession, incidents like breaking of containers and other goods by thieves known as “Wharf rats” occurred daily. This was why then, automobiles hardly leave the ports with their music system like CD players, tapes, jack and spare tyres.
Experts say pilfering and vandalism thrived due to the loose access control mechanism put in place by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the government agency in charge of port terminals.
The situation was so bad that litigation became prevalent between the affected managers of the ports and some importers who threatened court action, if the authorities failed to unmask the perpetrators.
But following the concession programme, it became the responsibility of some private terminals’ operators to ensure security at the ports.
This came in several forms like the robust security measures deployed by concessionaires to checkmate indiscriminate access into their terminals through strict access control mechanisms. This measure, in particular, gave port users and importers, rest of mind, ensuring their goods remained intact within the port premises.
Recently, wharf rats reportedly invaded three terminals almost simultaneously, causing huge loses to importers. A clearing agent, who pleaded for anonymity, explained that containers of vehicles were pilfered at Tin Can port terminal.
Stakeholders were worried about the development. They argued that, perhaps, there was a need for operators to seek the assistance of other security personnel like the Port Police and NPA security to arrest the situation.
For instance, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called on the NPA, NCS and port concessionaires to address the trend. The union, however, debunk claims that dockworkers were conniving with some unscrupulous people to vandalise cargoes at the terminals.
Its President-General, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, maintained that labour workers at the terminals were well paid and could not be involved in any form of criminal activities at the seaport. Besides, he disclosed that the union had warned dockworkers to desist from physical examination of containers at the seaport, and therefore cannot compromise the union’s integrity.
Adeyanju called on government agencies at the seaports to investigate the incidents, saying it has sent negative signals to the international maritime community.
According to him, there is need for licensed customs agents to manage information sharing process, saying that pilfering of containers at the terminals can be traced to insiders of the customs, terminals operators and officials of NPA.
The MWUN leader lamented that dockworkers at the ports had been discharging their duties deligently for over a decade without any cargo vandalism but added that the trend resurface recently.
He asked: “Dockworkers have been working for years at the ports and nobody has recorded cases of cargo vandalism, so how come the sudden change? We will not accept any accusation from any quarters that dockworkers are part of the people damaging or vandalising containers at the seaports because we are responsible and committed to workers’welfare packages. The clearing agents, canteen boys, Ikelebes all have ideas about information on consignment but the dockworkers have no idea about the vessel, the manifest and what she discharges.’’
He called on the labour workers to desist from any practice that would tarnish the image of the union, noting: “Anyone who get himself involved in illegal business will cease to be part of the union.”
Speaking on how to secure containers at the ports, Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Customs License Agents (ANCLA), Tin Can, Chapter, Segun Oduntan, said terminal operators security mechanism was porous.
According to him, there are standards they are expected to maintain, but they have fallen out of it. There is a standard requirement before you are authorised to manage a terminal because you are the one in charge of people’s goods.
He added: “Pilfering has happened to me before and since then, what I do is to bring a camera to record all the transactions and make sure that once you start the clearing process, you are the one that will finish it. If somebody starts a job, for instance, if somebody did an examination and he’s not the one taking delivery, by the time the container is tampered with, how will you know?
“Because after examination, if you use padlock belonging to a particular company to lock my container, I will have the key and by the time I’m taking delivery, I’m supposed to be the one to pass out the container from the gate, I will look at the padlock and if it is not the one I have the key; then, I will raise the alarm before the container leaves the terminal. In that way, the terminal owner can be liable. But once a container has passed out and you discover anything, they will tell you that it is not from the terminal.”
He continued: “This is the precaution I have to take; it happened to me before and the advice I give to people is that when they do their examination, they should ensure that their boys are the one that start the job and the ones that finish it and make sure they check before your cargo exits the port.”
Meanwhile, the National President of the National Council of Managing Director Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said the terminal operators are supposed to be securing cargoes and not the NPA having taken over the security of the cargo. He said the cargo is not under NPA anymore.
“All the cargoes are under terminal operators, who are in charge of the containers and make sure they are properly placed and secured. That is their responsibility, not NPA’s. NPA’s responsibility is to secure the traffic coming in and going out of the ports. But when you talk about cargoes, it is the terminal operators’duty and if there is any fault, the terminal operators are to be held responsible because that cargo is still in their custody. They are holding that cargo in trust for the importers who come in to clear them.”
According to him, if the cargo is being moved from the terminal to off dock terminal, it is the responsibility of that off dock terminal operator to secure it.
Said he: “When it comes to cargo responsibility, stealing and the rest; It is all about terminal operators and not the NPA’s responsibility to take care of cargoes within their ports. NPA has removed its hands from cargo operations.”
