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Importers, agents lament congestion at Lagos airport

By BusinessNews Staff on December 20, 2014

Importers and clearing agents are unhappy about the congestion of goods at the cargo section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

It was gathered that two weeks after the re-opening of the cargo terminal, activities had yet to return to normal.

Our correspondent, who visited the terminal on Wednesday, observed a general state of rowdiness, with many packaged goods lying unattended to.

Importers and clearing agents, who spoke to our correspondent, said the situation was becoming unbearable as it was making business difficult for them.

An importer, Mr. Uche Njoku, said the way things were going on at the cargo terminal was rather unfortunate.

He said, “Ever since this place was re-opened, things have not been the same.

“Things are really difficult for us here; if you bring in goods, you can’t clear them and the whole place is flooded with goods that have not been cleared, and this is creating a big problem for us.”

He called on the government to step in to address the situation, adding, “I do not know why the government has been quiet on this issue, they need to do something fast because a lot of people are being affected and people are now planning to take their goods to the Cotonou Port in neighbouring Benin Republic.”

The President, Association of Finished Textile Dealers of Lagos, Mr. Patrick Uzomah, told our correspondent that goods imported by members of the body had been held down at the terminal for many days.

He explained that the dealers were being charged extra fees by the ground handling company as demurrage incurred during the period that the terminal was shut.

Uzomah said, “You can’t imagine the pains we have been going through, our goods have been held down and they are asking us to pay huge sums of money for something we know nothing about.

“We have tried to meet with those in charge of the customs’ to intervene in the issue, but their response has not been encouraging so far and these are the goods we were supposed to sell for the Christmas period; it is really sad.”

Responding to the complaints, the Manager, Corporate Communications and Branding, Nahco Aviance Plc,Mr. Tayo Ajakeye, said in a text message that the organisation was not at fault for the challenges at the cargo section of the Lagos airport.

He said, “Nahco Aviance has not asked any of its esteemed customers to pay demurrage on goods that are on time. However, we acknowledge that the closure of the warehouses by the Nigerian Customs Service has created a situation whereby some agents have unintentionally incurred demurrage.

“Nahco sincerely sympathises with these few agents and is prepared to waive up to 50 per cent for them on a case-by-case review.”

The Federal Government had on December 3 re-opened the cargo terminal, which was shut for two weeks.

Activities had been brought to a halt following a clash between the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and clearing agents over alleged manhandling of a senior Customs official

The order to re-open the warehouses was made by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullah, following meetings held by various stakeholders on the crisis.

[Punch]

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