There are controversies surrounding the whereabouts of about 500 containers which are believed to be on transit to the Lilipond Terminal in Ijora, Lagos.
While freight forwarders and owners of the containers claimed the containers were at the Apapa Port in Lagos, the APMT, operators of the port, dismissed the claim.
Freight forwarders and owners of the containers alleged that the transit arrangement was done with Through Bill of Lading to Lilipond Terminal in Ijora.
They stated that the containers had, however, been left in the Apapa Port for almost two months following the refusal of the terminal operator to honour the TBL.
The Chairman, Nigerian Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Lilipond Chapter, Chinyere Okoye, told that his colleagues were making plans to stage a protest adding that the transit arrangement was terminated after they had already shipped their goods to Nigeria and directed that the containers be sent to Lilipond Terminal.
He said agents were told to find a way to transport their containers themselves, adding that they had spent N350,000 moving each container from Apapa to Ijora.
“The former arrangement was that the containers were usually moved by rail to Ijora when they arrived the port and we paid N113, 000 for the transportation but now we have to part with N350, 000 per container to move the goods by road,” he said.
The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Femi Olabanji, said the containers numbering around 500 had been trapped in the ports since August.
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