Assault on Customs officer: ANLCA apologises to PTML CAC
• Appoints China Rep
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY had reported exclusively in its edition of July 12, 2013, that but for the timely intervention of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdulahi, operations at the Port and Terminal Multi Services Limited (PTML) Area Command of the NCS would have been paralysed for several days resulting in huge revenue loss to importers and the terminal operator over an attack on the Deputy Comptroller in charge of Valuation at the Command by yet-to-be-identified Customs agents of alleged extortion.
However, Prince Shittu said the action of the agents was misguided and uncalled for. He said measures were being put in place by the ANLCA leadership for guard against future occurrence of such incidents.
He urged members of the association to embrace dialogue rather than resort to violence during commercial disputes.
The PTML Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Tajudeen Olanrewaju, who praised Shittu for his action, charged freight forwarders to emulate the virtues of the ANLCA leader.
While welcoming the ANLCA delegation to his office, Olanrewaju had praised the leadership qualities of Shittu as amplified by the contributions he made at various gatherings. He observed that this had led to the national and international recognition the association had received since he assumed the leadership of ANLCA.
“Unfortunately though these noticeable leadership qualities are not replicated at the chapter level”, Olarenwaju noted but hoped that agreements reached after the meeting would be respected. He however blamed the chapter executives for insincerely concealing the festering problem from him before resorting to self-help by claiming inaccessibility, pointing out that his doors were always open to resolve conflicts.
The ANLCA national president was accompanied on the visit by zonal and PTML chapter executives of his association and those of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF).
In a separate development, ANLCA may have made strategic moves to counter the scourge of fake clearing agents on the lucrative Nigeria-China trade route.
In this regard, the association recently appointed one of its Asia-based members, Prince Jerry Jay Obiegbu, as ANLCA Ambassador in Hong Kong and China.
Obiegbu, who has spent about a decade and half as a businessman in the East-Asian region, is expected to coordinate ANLCA affairs in the two countries.
The association’s National President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said that the appointment of an official representative in the countries is to address the numerous complaints brought to the attention of the association on how importers with consignments from China and other countries in the Asia region lose their money to fake clearing agents.
Shittu expressed confidence that importers in both Hong Kong and China will benefit from the services of genuine customs brokers and ANLCA members.
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