Freight forwarders and Clearing Agents with office space at the Container complex, Tin Can Island port, Apapa have called on the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to rescind its decision to sack them from the complex.
This plea came after a peaceful protest was embarked upon on Wednesday by the clearing agents over quit notice given to them by Seaview properties Limited, a subsidiary of NPA.
In a letter dated 11th February 2016 by Seaview propertied Limited to the clearing agents at the office complex and a copy made available to our correspondent, the property company asked everyone to vacate their office space on or before 30th September 2016.
The letter reads, “Please, I am directed by the management of Seaview Properties Limited to inform you to quit from the office space in your possession.
“That six months notice is hereby given to give up possession on receipt of this notice to quit from 1st March 2016 to 30th September 2016.”
But, after the peaceful protest, the Chairman, Containerized office Complex, Chukuemeka Shedrack pleaded with the NPA not to throw them out since there was no alternative provided for them.
Shedrack however lamented that the Managing Director of NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi had refused to grant them audience since the letter was written to them In February.
“We are all agents but they want to displace us from here. I don’t know where they want us to go that is why we said we will protest since we have written to the MD asking to seat down with him but he did not grant us the opportunity so we decided to protest since that is the only medium we can use to reach him.”
The Chairman of the complex who said the property company had also not provided an alternative space for them asked where they want them to operate from if evicted.
“They have not provided any alternative for us and that was why we wrote a letter to the MD so that we can hear from him because to displace all these crowd from here where do they want us to go.
“NPA has been saying they don’t want people loitering around the port causing nuisance and now they want to displace us with alternative so where do they want us to stay.
“If they push us out of this place, where did they want us to go? We are not of security risk here because we are doing our legitimate jobs and we have been here for more than 20 years, we have been here doing our normal jobs and we have never been a security threat to anyone”, he said.
The Chairman however disclosed that there were unconfirmed reports that their office space was to be sold to Grimaldi Shipping line.
In his words, “There are insinuations that they want to annex this complex for Grimaldi. We are hearing rumour that Grimaldi what to buy off this place and I don’t know why they want to do that even when in their terminals, they have enough space to operate and this place have been operating before Grimaldi and MRS so why did they want to displace us.
The Chairman however asked the Federal government to come to their aid before the NPA management sends them out of the complex.
“My prayer to the Federal Government is that they should help us halt the plans to move us out of here. We are all Nigerians, we are stakeholders and we are legitimate business people who generate revenue to Federal Government and they should not send us out of the port without any alternative.
Also speaking, the Vice- Chairman of the complex Alhaji Ajisafe said they should not be sent out of the office space they have been occupying for over two decades.
He asked where they want them to move their office to if they are evicted by the port Authority.
“We have been here for over twenty years and we have never been security threat to anyone let alone the port. They should not thrown us out because where do they want over 1000 of us to go if we are thrown out of the complex,” he told our correspondent on Wednesday.
Effort to get the response of NPA on the planned eviction of members of the office complex proved abortive as series of text messages sent to the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Capt. Ihenacho Ebubeogu were not replied.
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