NAGAFF to AIG Maritime “Police Officers disrupting ease of doing business at ports”

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The AIG Maritime Police Command, Alkali Usman in a group photograph with executives of NAGAFF

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders
(NAGAFF) on Thursday urged the Assistant Inspector General of Police(AIG)
Maritime Command, Alhaji Alkali Baba Usman, to as a matter of urgency, checkmate
illegal activities of some police officers who are on duty at the ports.

The association made its complaint known when the AIG paid a courtesy
call to the NAGAFF Village in Apapa, stating that the illegal activities of
such police officers worked against the provisions of the Federal Government’s
Ease of Doing Business at the nation’s ports.

Speaking during the event, NAGAFF President, Chief Increase Uche
told the AIG that the police officers on duty at the ports continually harassed
freight forwarders and customs agents who have legitimate right to clear their
goods out of the ports.

Uche said the association was worried about incessant abuse of powers by
general duty officers and unauthorized police operatives within and outside the
port.

He said that the police officers have been in the habit of stopping container
already cleared at the ports, a development Uche described as among the major
obstacles to the ease of doing business introduced by the federal government.

He also accused the Ports Police of violation of the rights of practitioners,
and called on the AIG to address such issues.
The NAGAFF President also accused other various agencies of government at the
ports of violating the rights of agents, and particularly accused terminal
operators and shipping companies of high-handedness.

Responding,
the AIG commended NAGAFF members for being among those that discharge their
duties properly, explaining that the major responsibility of the Police at the
port was to provide security, law and order.

He said, ”
the port is a business area and there are people like you trying to provide
services. The police are there to provide law and order.”

He added
that the major cause of harassment was when one deviates from obeying the law
and order.

According to
him, “In the case of harassment, it all boils down to somebody not doing what
he supposed to do. There is no country or community that doesn’t have
deviancies. Anyone can deviate, police and custom officers can take advantage
of his uniform to do something to contrary to the law.”

He also
reacted to the reasons why Police stops containers in the port, saying this was
to check cases of hacking of licenses and stolen vehicles.

He said that
containers have to be stopped for investigation, particularly in the case of
false declaration.

He however
said that the agencies at the ports are collaborating, assuring that cases that
are supposed to be handled by a particular agency directly are equally handed
to them.

He promised
to further discuss any damage caused by the stoppage of containers moving out
of the ports.

“If the
stoppage is causing damage to a genuine patriotic Nigerian, we can discuss
about it. There is no problem without solution. I am not denying excesses of
police.

For every actions and inactions of a police officer knows if he is doing the
right thing or not. Punishment and reward is there to discourage bad work and
encourage good work. Our doors are open if there are excesses on our side,” he
said.

The founder
of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, in his remarks asked the AIG to check the
activities of PTML terminal. He accused the management of the terminal of defrauding
Nigerians by preventing freight agents from entering the port.