Clearing agents operating at the Ports and Terminal Multipurpose Limited are lamenting operational challenges at the terminal.
The PTML chapter chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Oluwole Obey, in a chat with Financial Street on Wednesday, accused the national president of ANLCA, Tony Iju, of insensitivity to the plight of clearing agents.
He also said the president was attacked a few days ago because he was coming to install parallel executives amid the challenges facing the members.
“On what happened at PTML chapter that day; you cannot build anything on illegality. The agents are lamenting extortions and exploitations by government agencies on the roads, after their cargoes had been cleared at the port. They are facing challenges and are not happy. But the president is not addressing these issues,” Obey told Financial Street.
The ANLCA boss explained that they presently spend N350,000 to pick up a cargo as against the N50,000 they usually spend.
“For agents to pick their cargoes at the port, trucks are collecting N350,000, a service that we were paying N50,000 for. Wherever they want to offload the cargo, they would still pay almost N600,000. Agents are not happy.
“If we are lamenting and looking for how our jobs can move, and you are carrying out illegality of trying to instal some people at the command, you are not talking to us about our job, definitely people would revolt because they are not happy,” he added.
According to the ANLCA chairman, the ongoing crisis in the association has really taken a toll on the chapters and that because ANLCA is not speaking in one voice, members’ challenges cannot be solved as it supposed to.
He said that if the president still returns to the port today, he could still be attacked by agents because they werere not happy with him and his alleged non-performance.
“People would always mention my name as the mastermind because I am the chairman of the chapter, they can say anything. I know how I manage the members and how I intervene in their challenges. This is almost six years that I have been in the saddle and there has never been a single crisis.
“But if you, as president, are now coming in and there is a crisis, you need to check yourself,” he said.
