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Importers and agents are considering redirecting their annual imports worth N34 trillion from Lagos Port to Lekki and Tincan Island ports due to significant delays and high demurrage fees.
They have expressed frustration over the delay in clearing consignments at the port, attributing it to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officials responsible for container scanning.
The scanning process, they claimed, often led to further physical examination of containers, resulting in extended delays and additional costs in the form of demurrages to shipping companies.
They highlighted the financial strain caused by the N70,000 cost for scanning a container, an additional N75,000 for repositioning, and a hefty N124,000 per day for demurrage on reefer containers.
The Managing Director of Otokpo Logistics Limited, Sam Elem, noted that agents were losing clients due to clearance delays, resulting in significant delivery time extensions.
The impact of these irregularities has particularly affected cargoes such as raw materials, chemicals, reefer containers, and supermarket items.
In response to the complaints, the Public Relations Officer of NCS, Apapa Command, Usman Abubakar, refuted the allegations of delay.
He explained that certain containers required physical examination due to the limitations of the scanning machine in providing comprehensive information necessary for revenue generation.
He clarified that the scanning process only provides imagery and not detailed interpretation of the consignments, particularly items like chemicals that may fall under regulated categories or contain materials requiring physical inspection.
He clarified that those were the consignments that might necessitate repositioning to accurately assess their contents beyond just relying on the scanned images.
