The ongoing detention of already cleared cargo from the seaports by Nigerian Police Force (NPF) officials has drawn criticism from the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), which claims that doing so slows down trade.
“If Police have intelligence on a cargo, they should escort the container to the final spot of discharge and then check the container right there instead of congesting our ports with detained containers which don’t help with the ease of doing business at our ports” These were the exact words of RT Hon. Emmanuel Jime on Tuesday 22 August 2023, during a Multi-Agency Stake-holders Enlightenment program organized by the council in collaboration with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
Jime, the Executive Secretary of the council wondered why Police officers would flag an already cleared and released container from the seaports and still go ahead to detain said containers. The problem we have now is that there are Customs on one hand and the Police on the other hand checking cargoes, and we see this problem every day and these are things that shouldn’t exist. If Custom clears a cargo, the Police does not have the authority to detain such cargo, Jime stated.
The NPA, NSC, NAFDAC, and every other agency of government have their different roles cut out for them. At this juncture to collaborate and harmonize operations is the best way to support trade facilitation.