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By Steve Agbota
The Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) on Friday, revealed that the nation’s ports, through shipping lines, record over 2,300 stowaway cases annually.
This is even as the association said that for each repatriated stowaway, shipping lines are mandated to pay $2,000 to the government’s coffers through the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The Chairman of SAN, Boma Alabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, disclosed this in Lagos while addressing some selected maritime journalists, saying that the issue of stowaways is only synonymous with Nigerian ports across the world.
She said that the neighbouring ports like Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic do not have the issues of stowaways or whatsoever, saying these countries are taking the advantage of inefficiencies in the nation’s ports.
Giving a breakdown of the arrests, she explained that two to three stowaways are arrested every week per ship.
“And we have about 15 ships coming to Nigeria. So if you multiply three stowaways into 52 weeks, making up a year, by 15 ships that come to the country, you will have 2,340 stowaways every year. And for each stowaway that is repatriated, we pay $2000,” she said.
Alabi, who is also the president of the Shipping Agencies Clearing and Forwarding Employers Association, said that the issue of stowaways is very common in the Nigerian maritime domain.
She lamented that despite paying some government agencies to protect the ships and make the environment conducive, these stowaways still find their way to their ships.
“Meanwhile, we are paying these agencies for the safety of the vessels and they are collecting their payment in U.S. Dollars. Again, dollarising the economy and yet, you are not providing the service. You are putting Nigerians at risk because these stowaways, some of them lose their lives in the process. And it’s out of ignorance,” Alabi stated.
