Freight Forwarders Petition IGP over Allegation of Extortion by Ports Police
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By Our Reporter
Freight forwarders have called the attention of the Inspection General of police, Kayode Egbetokun to the sprawling corruption allegedly involving some police officers posted to the nation’s ports.
In a petition to the new Inspection General of police, Kayode Egbetokun , the freight forwarders said they will withdraw their services if the excesses of these police officers were not checked.
In the protest letter signed by Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim, the National Coordinator of the 100 percent Compliance team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the customs brokers condemned the activities of the police officers, saying this was affecting trade facilitation.
In the petition, Tanko Ibrahim, who is also an elected member of the governing board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria (CRFFN) ,claimed these officers, in connivance with the shipping companies, indiscriminately stop and detain exited containers from the ports with the purpose of extorting money from the owners.
Tanko said the extortionist activities of the police were curtailed under the past administration of police IG due to the outcry of the oppressed freight forwarders.
He lamented that the menace has now resurged with new vigour, as the police now carry out their extortions in the open.
He said, “Since the advent of the new administration, the officers and men of the Maritime Police have not only resumed these activities but also even more daring.
“They do not only block the release of containers from shipping companies, they also arrest and detain containers on the roads, and even allegedly go into fisticuffs with the officers of the Federal operations Unit of the Nigerian Customs service”
“To compound and confound the matter, one of their officers, has been at Kam Salem House for more than three years when the rapprochement was reached during the last administration, is the unrepentant bagman who openly boasts that he is a millionaire.
“He sits atop proceedings in the extortion business’ the petitioners declared.
Shippers C
Freight forwarders have called the attention of the Inspection General of police, Kayode Egbetokun to the sprawling corruption allegedly involving some police officers posted to the nation’s ports.
In a petition to the new Inspection General of police, Kayode Egbetokun , the freight forwarders said they will withdraw their services if the excesses of these police officers were not checked.
In the protest letter signed by Alhaji Tanko Ibrahim, the National Coordinator of the 100 percent Compliance team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the customs brokers condemned the activities of the police officers, saying this was affecting trade facilitation.
In the petition, Tanko Ibrahim, who is also an elected member of the governing board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria (CRFFN) ,claimed these officers, in connivance with the shipping companies, indiscriminately stop and detain exited containers from the ports with the purpose of extorting money from the owners.
Tanko said the extortionist activities of the police were curtailed under the past administration of police IG due to the outcry of the oppressed freight forwarders.
He lamented that the menace has now resurged with new vigour, as the police now carry out their extortions in the open.
He said, “Since the advent of the new administration, the officers and men of the Maritime Police have not only resumed these activities but also even more daring.
“They do not only block the release of containers from shipping companies, they also arrest and detain containers on the roads, and even allegedly go into fisticuffs with the officers of the Federal operations Unit of the Nigerian Customs service”
“To compound and confound the matter, one of their officers, has been at Kam Salem House for more than three years when the rapprochement was reached during the last administration, is the unrepentant bagman who openly boasts that he is a millionaire.
“He sits atop proceedings in the extortion business’ the petitioners declared.
Shippers C
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