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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 $2000 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 neigbouring 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 a minimum of 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.
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Boma 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 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.
Alabi described stowaways as a major pandemic in the country that needs to be dealt with.
“These inefficiencies impact the quality of my exports. Why is there such a high rejection rate of Nigerian agricultural produce? Because we have such delays. By the time I load my container here, and it takes me six to eight weeks to get it out of the country, my competitor, once they come they go out immediately.”
According to her, government agencies, have a duty, which they should do right and efficiently.
“So, until these agencies realise that this inefficiency is killing trade and impacting negatively on the maritime sector, and in so doing on all of us, because imagine the number of jobs that are being lost. Because we’re not expanding, and the demand is not there. Lekki Port is one of the first new investments we’ve had in many years,” she explained.
SAN represents major shipping-line agents and maritime stakeholders operating in Nigeria.
