Barely 24 hours after the Management of the Lagos Ports Complex of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) re-opened the Apapa Port for business, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has said that the strike embarked upon by its members in conjunction with other freight forwarding associations in Apapa would continue.
Freight Forwarders operating in Apapa Port had on Monday, the 10th day of November, 2014 withdrew their services from the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) and ENL Shipping Agency citing high handedness on the part of the operators as the one of the reasons for their action.
Recall that the Lagos Port Manager, Mr. Nasir Anas Mohammed on Tuesday announced the re-opening of the ports for business saying that in as much as the freight forwarders had the right to protest their grievances over any operator but such right would not have to be imposed on anyone who so chose to transact business with the terminal.
However, speaking at the end of the meeting of the National Officers of ANLCA at the National Secretariat on Wednesday, the National President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu told newsmen that the withdrawal of services of the Apapa Chapter of the association from APMT would continue.
Shittu who listed the ills meted out to his members at Apapa by the Management of APMT also said that the situation where the Management of the terminal persistently walks out on his members at every meeting, abusing them and calling them names would no longer be acceptable.
According to him, “APM Terminal has grown become like a sovereign within the sovereignty of Nigeria. They don’t care, they abuse people, they walk out of meetings, they boast, quote me, they boast that Obasanjo and Shonekan are behind them and no power can let them go beyond what they are doing now”.
“To even cap it all, they even go beyond the issue of why we are reacting, they said that when Nigerians are hungry, they will go back to work. That is insulting, it is unacceptable”.
He maintained that the Ministry of Transport was aware of the intransigencies of the terminal’s management recalling that the former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman was disgraced and rebuffed by the same management when he visited the terminal and nothing happened.
The ANLCA boss however disclosed that the action did not affect other terminals as according to him, “the problems the other terminals have had been well documented including APM Terminal themselves and we have forwarded them to the Presidency”.
On the outcome of the meeting of the National Officers of the association, he said,” we resolved and called on the Federal government to institute a Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the operations in the Maritime industry for a simple reason being the fact that how can a private entity become a sovereign in a sovereign where they don’t have control, nobody talks to them, they just do what they want. We need to know, we all have a stake in this country”.
“So, I have been directed by our National Officers to say that the strike in Apapa will continue and for your information, members raised money in Millions to support this action. They sat down here and raised money, go and ask the Chairman, they raised money to sustain the struggle. So, we are in support of that struggle, let them continue”.
