Truckers and freight agents have accused officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) of unlawfully imposing N50,000 per truck for access to the TICT facility.
The illicit practice, according to truckers and agents, is not only hindering the ease of doing business but also causing significant congestion.
Tens of containers are reported to be lined up along the corridor of the port, extending from the terminal’s gate, while the scanning site remains inactive.
Port users argue that this alleged extortion scheme is intentionally disrupting port business, with suspicions that the terminal operator aims to accumulate additional funds through storage charges imposed on delayed consignments paid to the terminal.
During the observation on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, News Diet witnessed long queues forming on the port corridor, with truckers expressing frustration over the purported extortion by NPA and TICT officials.
The truckers claim that access to the TICT facility is only granted after payment of the N50,000 fee.
Joy Onome Monije, the Public Relations Officer of Tin Can Chapter, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), spoke with our correspondent, describing the situation as a resurgence of corrupt and unprofessional conduct at the port.
Monije expressed concern that the commendable innovations of the Customs Area Controller (CAC) TCIP, Comptroller Dera Nnadi Mni, are being undermined by the fraudulent activities of TICT workers and certain NPA officials.
Monije highlighted a further consequence of the alleged extortion, stating that many truckers experience expired terminal delivery orders (TDO) while waiting in queues to access the ports.
This, in turn, leads to extra charges benefiting the terminal operator, adding to the overall dissatisfaction among stakeholders at the Tin Can Island Port.
“Despite the provision of scanners at Tin Can, which can easily handle over 100 containers daily. The Customs officers at TICT lamented that less than 10 containers are subjected to scanning on daily basis. She also noted that the government resources in managing the scanners and diesel expended on powering the facility are being wasted.”
“Scanning takes just three minutes, and they can scan over 100 a day. However, they do 10 to 15 containers per day, wasting diesel and other resources on the scanning machine. There is a racket of NPA and TICT with N50,000 demanded to pass a truck.”
Users of the port have noted a significant surge in truck haulage originating from Tin Can Port, attributed to challenges leading to an increase of over 300 percent. This surge is primarily linked to issues such as extortion and inefficiencies at TICT.
In an effort to uncover the causes of these delays, it was observed that a delegation from ANLCA entered TICT and discovered numerous freight forwarders waiting at the scanning site.
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“Many freight forwarders reported that they had booked for scanning for days but the containers were yet to be brought forward for scanning. We consulted the Customs official in charge of scanning, DC Atuluku, who lamented that Customs can’t influence the terminal operator’s process of bringing the containers for scanning.”
Noting the current duration of 3–4 days required for cargo clearance procedures at TICT, following the implementation of round-the-clock operations and weekend services by Comptroller Dera Nnadi, the ANLCA team expressed concern.
They lamented that, despite the issuance of TDO, containers take over a week to exit the port gate due to extortion.
Port users argue that the situation at TICT is exacerbated by a shortage of port equipment, as all major machinery is dedicated to each vessel berthed at the seaside. Despite efforts by the port operator to cope with increased demand resulting from innovations introduced by Comptroller Dera Nnadi, challenges persist.
In a conversation with News Diet, Alhaji Inuwa Mohammed, a leader of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), emphasized that the extortion of truckers remains an ongoing issue at Tin Can.
“Extortion of truckers at Tin Can has been ongoing, although it was suppressed for a while. The prices differ based on the consignments you’re importing. There are some places where the prices are little, between N1,000 and N5,000.”
“However, as the Christmas period draws nearer, some security personnel have introduced a cabal to collect between N20,000 and N60,000 depending on your negotiating power and your hastiness to get in or out of the port,” the NARTO Chieftain stated.
Mohammed asserted that NPA and other security agencies operating around the Tin Can Island port corridor engage in extortion targeting all types of trucks, including those transporting empty containers and export shipments.
Another source who preferred anonymity said, “As shipping companies bring their consignments to their terminal (TICT), from our findings, when a vessel berths, the terminal diverts all their machinery and resource personnel to the ship side, thereby frustrating freight forwarders, who are ready to take delivery of cargoes. Freight forwarders have to be on standby incurring more demurrage and storage charges on consignments at the terminal.”
“They are also creating an unnecessary gridlock at the terminal entrance. Lots of people out there have TDOs for more than a week. While they are out there on the queue waiting to gain entrance, after some days they will find out that the TDO has expired. This means more payments. We keep paying and paying unending, for an issue which is entirely no fault of ours.”
The Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, along with the leadership of NPA, was urged by freight forwarders and truckers to promptly rectify the irregularity.
Despite attempts to elicit a response from NPA and TICT officials regarding the alleged extortion, no feedback was received as of the time of press. #NPA