The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has cautioned the Nigeria Police and other agencies at the nation’s ports to stop interfering with the statutory roles of the Nigeria Customs (NCS) at the ports.
The Council told the Police and other agencies to stop intercepting and checking goods already cleared by the Customs at the ports.
The Executive Secretary/CEO of the NSC, Hon. Emmanuel Jime who spoke during a Multi-Agency Stakeholders Enlightenment said the Police should stop detaining containers already cleared by the Customs inside the ports or along the ports corridor.
Jime expressed concerns on why the Police detains a container in the ports which has been cleared by the Customs.
Jime said, “The problem we have now is that we have Customs on one side checking cargoes, and police on the other hand also checking cargoes. These are things that shouldn’t exist. If Customs clears a cargo, the Police do not have the authority to detain such cargo.
“If the police has intelligence on a cargo, they should escort the container to the final spot of discharge and then check the container right there. Congesting our ports or ports access roads with detained containers is not helping the ease of doing business at our ports.
“We see these problems every day. Every agency of government has their roles cut out for them. NPA, NSC, NAFDAC, and others, we all have our different roles cut out for us, let us look at how we can interface with each other and harmonise our operations to help facilitate trade.
“If NAFDAC flags a container that has already been cleared by SON, it shouldn’t lead to clogging of the ports access roads or port congestion. We need to harmonise our operations for the benefit of the country