Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has called for the profiling of port users as a means of curtailing the threats of possible attacks on the nation’s gateway by members of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.
Speaking with newsmen over the weekend, Aniebonam said: “I have always called for the need to profile those who come and go inside the port because with the talk about attack, it will be carried out by human beings so at what point are we going to take responsibility of who will go into the port?
“This is the crux of the matter. I find it difficult when agents of government cannot do what they are supposed to do, it is not all about mounting check points at the entry point or gate of the port. That is not enough but we must do profiling at the gate of the port to know who enters the port.”
Aniebonam said profiling individuals who visit the ports can be done easily through strategic alliance with major stakeholders.
“I will expect them to take a profile of the port users through the organised sector like NAGAFF, ANLCA, truck owners and drivers, dockworkers and all. All the people who go inside the port must be known. That is why we need profiling especially if we are to stop the attack from happening,” the NAGAFF Founder stated.
He charged the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigeria Police Force to automate the profiling process so as to create a strong database for the seaports.
The NAGAFF founder also asked the federal government to relocate tank farms from the port environment for safety reasons.
“Government should not wait until there is an hazard before they relocate the tank farm because everything that have to do with human being, government should not wait until there is casualty before they do the needful.
“People are complaining seriously about the site of the tank farms. The location of the tank farms is not the best. They should be at the outskirts of the state, do we have the capacity to contain the issue when it happens? I doubt it,” he said.
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