Steve Agbota
The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has Inaugurated a task force to check revenue leakages and corruption among the government agencies at the nation’s ports.
Speaking at the inauguration of the task force in Apapa yesterday, its Vice President, Dr Kayode Farinto, said the formation of the task force is long overdue, saying that presently, there is a breakdown of law and order in the nation’s port system.
According to him, the task force is not composed to confront any security agencies, the essence is to expose the corruption at the port, and to address the operational challenges faced by ANLCA members in the process of clearing their cargoes from the port.
He stated: “There is a breakdown of law and order in the port system, we are like a Banana Republic now whereby everybody does what they like. There is no law, and nobody respects the law. There was a presidential directive that, during the COVID-19 lockdown, our members should not be charged for storage, but yet they were charged.
“The Zonal Coordinator gave me a heap of debit notes that were paid during the lockdown, up till now, they have not paid us back. The issue of the zonal task force is long overdue because ANLCA members are suffering, I am delighted that the zones have woken up from their slumber.“ Also speaking at the event, the Western Zone Cordinator of ANLCA, Sir John Offorbike, said the task force is to ensure smooth operations in the zones. He said that already, most of the chapters have their task forces, but the zonal task force would only complement the chapters when there are issues to be addressed.
He lamented that so many things have gone wrong in the system, especially here in the west. He said the Customs have formed so many units to make sure that they check revenue leakages and to make people comply with rules and regulations.