‘Count Us Out of Molestation of Customs Officer At Tin-Can Port’ – ANLCA President

BY EGUONO ODJEGBA

The last may not have been heard about the rude and unacceptable manner an operative of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) identified as Assistant Comptroller Isa A.M was last week openly humiliated as she was literally dragged and chased out of her office at the Car Park C Terminal operated by Five Star Logistics, Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

ANLCA NPS,M Onyeme while addressing the press

While the matter has since caught the attention of the NCS management which has instituted a probe, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has described the spectacle as rude, irresponsible, distasteful and out of tune with occupational decorum; disassociating its members from the action.

The flagship customs clearing and forwarding association also explained that it is unaware of the allegation of corruption and high handedness ascribed to customs duty at the terminal, in addition to pleading ignorance of same allegation against the affected officer.

While acknowledging the dynamic nature of customs trade at the port and terminal which is far from perfect and therefore may occasionally experience trade disputes or professional dissatisfaction, the leading freight forwarding and customs brokerage group said its standard approach is one of due process through lodgment of formal complaint, dialogue and resolution.

He stated further that ANLCA frowns seriously at such an unacceptable behaviour, further describing the incident as unhealthy, reprehensible and uncalled for. This is even as the National President of ANCA, Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji  sympathized with the service and the Tin Can area command, and called on the area controller and his management not to allow the incident get on the way of his commitment and dedication to duty.

L-R: Soleji, Onyeme and Oforha during the press briefing

Nwokeoji who spoke through the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme  at  a press briefing he called to clarify the association’s position at  its national secretariat on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, assured the service and its leadership of its continued robust partnership and engagement at all time.

Supported by the duo of Goddy Sewa Soleji, Chairman, Presidential Task Force of ANLCA and the Sole Administrator of the Tin Can Island Chapter of the association, Sunday Oforha during the briefing, the NPS said ANLCA believes in due process and the principle of dialogue, consultation and cooperation with the customs service; and all other agencies of government and critical stakeholders.

He explained that the leadership of ANLCA never asked anyone to molest the said customs officer, and that having carried out its internal finding, is also proud to report that no member of ANLCA was involved in the disgraceful episode.

According to him, they in ANLCA only learnt of the incident online like most Nigerians, and emphatically distanced the association, its leadership and members from the melee.

“We called this press briefing because as journalists you would have seen a video trending in the internet in respect of what happened at Five Stars Terminal, and the officer in question. In ANLCA, we are licensed customs agents, we have so much respect for government agencies and for stakeholders. ANLCA is an association that believes in collaboration with government agencies. We believe in dialogue and proper engagement even when things are rough. We believe in consultation where we meet you one-on-one, where we can sit at a round table, resolve our issues and move forward to make sure that the revenue being generated for government revenue is not jeopardized. We equally believe in compliance, that is one of the cardinal points of conduct of the present NECOM (National Executive Committee).

“This issue that happened…l am happy that most of you journalists were with us in PTML (Ports Terminal Multi-Purpose Limited) when the CGC came for the launch of the pilot scheme of Odogwu project. The Vice President was there, the  Zonal Coordinator was equally there, the  SSA Media to the National President was also there and other executive officers, including myself, we were there. By the time we finished the programme we saw the video of the incident at Five Star trending.

“We decided to call this press conference to let the whole world know that in ANLCA we are not touts. We don’t engage in rascality, we believe in the principle of engagement, when we talk of the principle of engagement we look at the Customs Act that talks about customs brokers and government agencies. The incident that took place in Five Star, we were not involved; ANLCA members were not part of it. This is why l am on behalf of the national president, Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji, other NECOM members, the western zone executives, the chapter chairmen, and all members of ANLCA were not part of it. ANLCA can never stoop so low to going to terminals carry out such act.”

He continued: “The reason why I have Mr. Soleji the Task Force Chairman and the Sole Administrator of our Tin Can chapter here is to confirm that neither they nor any ANLCA members were involved in this incident” he said.

Also speaking, Goddy Sewa Soleji corroborated the NPS earlier position noting that by virtue of its infallible minimum standard, ANLCA did not and could not have participated in the unguarded and disgraceful action.

“Any protest by clearing agents who are our members, must first be authorized by the president and coordinated by the Presidential Monitoring Task Force. As chairman of the taskforce, l was not in the know,  l heard about it and went online to check and see the incident, we were not part of it, and we were not informed it either.

“After it occurred, we conducted our investigation and found that no ANLCA members were involved. We remain committed to professionalism and believe in resolving issues through dialogue, not confrontation” Soleji stated.

On his part, the Sole Administrator of ANLCA Tin Can chapter, Sunday Oforha confirmed that every challenges associated with cargo clearance process by agents and customs brokers at Tin Can Port is handled by the chapter in dialogue with the Customs Area Controller, reiterating his colleagues earlier position that ANLCA and its members played no part in the acts of confusion.

“There was a period when customs transition from one system to another was causing temporary challenges, but these were resolved. Most issues with 846 arise from improperly routing vehicles for clearance. The Tin Can Customs Controller runs an open-door policy to address such concerns, and we are actively working to ensure smooth operations”, he said.

Reacting to suggestion that challenges associated with 846 may be impeding trade facilitation and causing delays which annoys clearing agents and which the count against customs officers as high handedness and corruption,  Oforha disagreed, saying such insinuation is misleading.

“The claim that there is operational breakdown because of 846 is not true. Remember there was a time customs migrated from ASYCUDA plus plus to NICIS 11, there were challenges then for about one or two weeks. But then the new system stabilized and everything was okay.

“There is VIN standard and there is 646, the problem is that some agents sort vehicle clearance that is supposed to be under 846 to VIN and vice versa, this is part of the confusion. This results into issues with officers in the terminals, but overall, we in ANLCA will continue to engage, we have been doing so and we there is no reason to resort to self help and unacceptable behaviour. As the Tin Can chapter administrator, l was not aware there was going to be a protest, just to reaffirm our claim that ANLCA is not involved in the incident.”

Further clarifying, Onyeme explained that some agents are their own problem as regards speedy process despite wrong procedures and assessments.

“Once you have vehicles that has standard VIN, vehicles coming from USA or Canada, the moment you input the VIN number into the system, the system will bring out the value and you go ahead and pay; no hassle. 846 are vehicles that comes from Europe and Asia,  and which are not part of the standard VIN. The moment you input such vehicle data, the system will take you to 846 because the system couldn’t identify the VIN numbers. But once you input your data on the broad standard it brings out the value and nobody wastes your time”, he explained.

He used the opportunity to enjoin the Tin Can Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni, not to give up his on his sterling, impressive leadership style on account of the development, while extolling his dedication to duty.

“The Custom Area Controller of Tin Can Command, Controller Dera Nnadi, operates an open policy. This is a controller that resumes work as early as 6:30 or 7am and close from work at 10:00 pm, he is there to attend to people.

“On daily basis, all documents that pass through his office are cleared from his table. The routine is that any document you submit to his office through the correspondence unit, once it is a minute after 6pm, you can’t take such document to his office. But if any document gets to his office before 6:00 pm, even if it takes him up till 11pm to sign them out, he will do so.

“In the past two months that renovation started at the command, this man (Comptroller Nnadi) has been working Sunday to Sunday, every Sunday after Mass he comes to the office, and he runs an open policy, the issue of 846 is self inflicted, l don’t see it as a problem. Every real operational challenge are resolved expeditiously, we must leave out sentiments”, Onyeme pleaded.