JTF Storms Onne Port In ‘Sting Operation’, Arrests Oil Thieves, Intercepts Vessels

Some of the suspected oil thieves who were arrested by operatives
of Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield

Operatives of the Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, on Tuesday arrested eight suspected oil thieves at Onne port in Rivers state.
The sting operation which was led by the chief of staff to the Commander of JTF; Major General Emmanuel Atewe led to the interception of vessels and 32 barges loaded with suspected stolen petroleum products.
The operation which began as early as 7 am was witnessed by some journalists, who had been invited.

Obanikoro Tasks Fashola to Build Holding Bays to Break Apapa Logjam

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro and
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro has urged the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola to build permanent holding bay for trucks and tankers to park, to ease the logjam in the Apapa-Wharf area of Lagos, the nation’s commercial city.

This comes a few days after the Lagos state governor visited the area, decrying the insensitivity of the Federal government to the plight of ‘Lagosians’ due to the prolonged traffic situation at the busy Apapa-Wharf Road.

“There is need for the state to have a permanent holding bay for trucks.

“It is when that is provided that there can be a radio link between the port and the bay,

NPA Workers Raise Fresh Alarm Over Sale of Dockyard To NIPCO

Managing Director, NPA; Mallam Habeeb Abdullahi.        

About a year after it called government's attention to the alleged attempts by oil giant; NIPCO Plc to acquire the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Dockyard in Apapa Lagos, NPA workers under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transportation and Corporation (SSACTAC) have again raised alarm that NIPCO is making fresh attempts to acquire the facility.

President of the SSACTAC Maritime, Comrade Umar Omeiza Jimoh in an interview with Shipping Position Daily in a recent interview in Lagos confirmed that NIPCO is trying to acquire the space in order to construct more tank farms.

Comrade Umar lamented that at presently, the NPA does not have an in-house training plant like the dockyard for pilots and in-house mariners, according to him, most of the professionals in the maritime industry today grew through the in-house plant at the dockyard.

He disagreed with insinuations that the dockyard was moribund, even as he called on NPA to refurbish it for the training of its workers.

APAPA TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK: Military Police Takes Over Routes To Lagos Ports

Even though traffic was still not flowing as expected on the two approaches to the two seaports in Lagos, there was absolute orderliness and compliance by tanker and container-laden truck drivers yesterday. The sanity was because military personnel have taken charge of traffic control.

Shipping Position Daily investigations revealed that the deployment of the military police along the two routes was as a result of the current security challenges in the country, coupled the chaotic traffic gridlock.

However, officials the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were not sighted by our correspondent, even as some motorists kicked against the engagement of LASTMA officials, arguing that they should give way for the military to manage the traffic situation within the seaports and tank farm environment.

PIRACY: NIMASA Deploys Satellite Surveillance Equipment

L-R: Head of Seafarers Department of NIMASA Engr Vincent Idowe,
Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development,
Capt. Ezekiel Bala Agaba who represented the Director General of NIMASA,
Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi and the Director of Shipping Department of
NIMASA, Capt. Waredi Eniosouh during a NIMASA
press conference in Lagos yesterday.

...Laments Inadequate Maritime Guard Command

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has assured that with the launching of its Satellite Surveillance Centre, it is now able to respond to any distress call on Nigerian waters and beyond.

The agency has however lamented that presently it does not have enough security officers assigned to its maritime guard command to be able to efficiently complement the findings of the surveillance system.

Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi stated this in Lagos yesterday at a press conference organised by the agency.

Akpobolokemi, who was represented by the agency's Executive Director of Maritime Safety and Shipping Development; Capt Ezekiel Bala Agaba, said that the new 24 hours satellite surveillance equipment has the capability to detect boats, ships and objects of predefined cross-section floating on water.

$1.5Billion Lekki Free Trade Zone Commences Operations In 2017

From Left: Chairman Tolaram Group, Mohan K Vaswani, Chairman
Prime Resources Limited, Sulaiman Baffa and the Executive Secretary,
Nigeria Shippers’ Council; Barrister Hassan Bello during  a courtesy visit to
 Tolaram Group Office , Lekki Free Trade Zone, Yesterday in Lagos

• Shippers’ Council Calls For Proper Rail, Road Network

Authourities of the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) said yesterday that the port will commence full operations in 2017, even as it was revealed that a staggering $1.5Billion will be invested in the on-going projects. The sum is expected to be provided by the promoters along with the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Lagos State Government.

This revelation was given yesterday by the Director Finance (LFTZ) Mr. Kundan Sainani when the top management team of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council paid a working visit to the consultants’ firm, Tolaram Group in Lekki, Lagos.

"By the end of 2017, the port will be operational and together with the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Ports Authority we are investing $1.5 billion”, he stated.

APAPA TRAFFIC: Fashola Trade-blames, Lampoons Federal Agencies For Gridlock

RETURN TO SANITY? Free-flowing traffic at Tin Can
 Island Port ‘First ‘ bust stop, yesterday

• Stakeholders Commend Governor Over Free-flowing Traffic

Lagos state governor; Babatunde Fashola has shifted the blame for the debilitating traffic at Apapa to Federal Government agencies at the ports, saying lack of coordination among the agencies is largely responsible for the problem.
Fashola spoke last Sunday when he paid another assessment visit to Apapa; he particularly blamed respective federal agencies for subjecting Apapa people to untold hardship.
He urged the Federal Government to take responsibility for its facilities within Apapa; especially the ports and expressway.
“This is clearly a multi-agency problem. Probably, many agencies of the Federal Government are not talking to one another or not coordinating. As a result, people in Lagos, particularly in Apapa, are at the receiving end”, he acknowledged.

“80 Percent Of Tank Farms In Nigeria Are Located In Ibafon, Apapa”-------NARTO

The National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has lamented the clustering of petroleum products tank farm at the Ibafon-Ibru axis on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway, even as the body has pointed out that 80 percent of petroleum tank farms in the country are currently located in Lagos.

 
 National Secretary of NARTO, Barrister Emmanuel Gowon made this statement last week as a guest on our Shipping Position Live on Star FM. He was reacting to questions about the causes of the ever-present traffic gridlock that has inhibited movement of persons, businesses and vehicles along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway.

Truck To Leave Apapa-Oshodi Expressway In 48 Hours

CHAOS AS USUAL: Confusion as trucks and okada riders take
over a whole lane at the Coconut bus stop end of
 the Apapa-Oshodi expressway yesterday

Respite appears to be in the horizon for commuters who have been suffering untold hardship on the Apapa port end of the failed Apapa-Oshodi expressway. Owners and divers of articulated vehicles have agreed to evacuate their trucks from the highway in 48 hours.
Represented by the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) as well as the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG at a high-powered meeting yesterday in Lagos,

Container Truck Drivers Lampoon APM Terminal, Shutdown Lagos Port Complex

Some of the aggrieved Truck Drivers Carrying Placard to
Protest Alleged Inadequacies of APM Terminal
 At The Lagos Ports Complex Gate Yesterday in Lagos

Placard-carrying container truck drivers yesterday grounded operational activities at the Lagos Ports Complex for several hours alleging that one of the concessionaires; APM Terminal is the cause of the delay experienced at the port because of its obsolete equipment .

The aggrieved drivers also called on the Federal Government to monitor the alleged excesses of APMT because according to them, the terminal operator lacks efficiency.

Some of the placard carried by the drivers read messages such as: "APMT have failed Nigerians"," APMT must go before we work again","APMT equipment are all obsolete"," We are tired of APMT activities", "Compare to other terminals like TICT , Ports and Cargo, APMT is not functioning well "etc., While some carried placards, others were chanting solidarity songs calling for the government to look into the plight of the drivers.

APAPA TRAFFIC: Please Be Patience With Us: Truck Owners Appeal To Residents of Olodi Apapa

Residents of Olodi Apapa and environs have been advised not to take laws into their hands or raze down haulage trucks following the debilitating traffic gridlock along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway connecting the two seaports in Lagos state, Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island port.

Shipping Position Daily had reported exclusively last week that residents of Olodi Apapa and some parts of Ajegunle (also in Apapa) had threatened to take  the laws into their hands by burning trucks parked on their streets overnight.
The residents had complained that such trucks have become hindrances and also a source of insecurity.

But responding to the threat on Monday, the  Executive Secretary of Nigeria Association Road Transport Owners (NARTO); Barrister Emmanuel Gowon appealed to residents of the affected communities to exercise a little more patience, as plans are on-going to find solution to  the problems faced on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway.

ECOWAS $60million Shipping Project Takes Off In September — NEXIM Bank

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has assured that the much-expected trans-West Africa shipping line will come on stream in September.

Called, Sealink Promotional Company Limited, the $60Million shipping line is expected to facilitate maritime transportation within the West and Central African. It is being promoted by the bank.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEXIM; Mr. Roberts Orya, who explained at a stakeholders forum in La¬gos at the weekend that signifi¬cant progress has been made so far towards raising the required capital for its take-off, also added that investment drive was still on towards meeting the financial  portfolio target of the company.

Robbers, Hoodlums Unleash Terror Along Lagos Seaports Routes

The other ugly sides to the perennial traffic gridlock in Apapa is beginning to come to the fore as  commuters, residents and those who work in the port city have been recounting their ordeals, even as  residents of Olodi Apapa have threatened  to raze down articulated tankers and container laden trucks that may be parked in the community.

The threat by residents of Olodi Apapa had been reported by Shipping Position Daily last week, but latest development confirmed that commuters and motorists who are often trapped in the heavy traffic which often drags from the early evening of very day into the early hours of the following day on the Apapa end of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway and the Ijora artery into the port, have being contending with incessant harassment and molestation by men of the underworld.

Suspected Hijackers Of Mt Kerala Arrested In Nigeria, Handed Over To Interpol

The Nigerian navy, NNS Delta, has arrested three persons in connection with the hijacking of MT Kerala, off the coast of Angola, Southern Africa.
The 75,000 dwt, Liberian-flagged oil tanker Kerala, came under attack offshore Luanda, Angola around the 18th of January after which the International Maritime Bureau was notified.
However, the suspects, Takoradi Doghor, captain, William Aseghiemhen, Engineer and Ovakporaye Osagada, Able Seaman, were in March this year, arrested by the Nigerian Navy in the Niger Delta waterways in possession of the ship used for the same illegal operation.
The suspects were held in connection with the hijacking and siphoning of the contents of the vessel, which had products worth about N1.6bn.

AUTO POLICY: Customs, FRSC Collaborate To Checkmate Registration Of Smuggled Vehicles

Ahead of the full implementation of the new automotive policy, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it has commenced moves to collaborate with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) with a view to checkmating the registration of smuggled vehicles.

There have been fears by stakeholders that, the 70 per cent duty and levy on imported vehicles may make smuggling attractive to importers, but  the Public Relation of the Nigeria Customs Service; Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, a Deputy Controller, said that the partnership with the FRSC  has reached an advance stage, adding that the aim was to eliminate the smuggling of vehicles into the country.

Shippers’ Council, Oyo Govt Re-open Talks On Ibadan ICD Project

Secretary to the Government Of Oyo State, Mr. Ismail Lekan Alli,
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Hassan Bello
and Managing Director of Catamaran Logistics Limited, Mr. Lai Aare at
the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos yesterday after The Shippers’ Council Boss
met with a delegate from the Oyo State Government
on reviving the Ibadan ICD Project.

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has re-opened talks with the Oyo State Government and concessionaire; Catamaran Logistics Limited on how to overcome impediments against the smooth take-off  of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) project of the Council in Ibadan, Oyo State.

At a meeting which held between the three parties at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos yesterday, Executive Secretary of the Shippers’ Council, Barrister Hassan Bello revealed that lack of substantive legal frame work is what has delayed the smooth take-off of the ICD project.

Bello charged the Oyo State delegation led by the Secretary to the state government, Mr. Ishmail Lekan Alli to concentrate its efforts with the other five ICD state governments on how to pressurize the Federal Government to gazette the ICD's as a port of destination and origin so that it can take-off.

He said that the Shippers’ Council has done all it could to push for the enactment of the legal frame work, adding that the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar had set up an ICD Implementation Committee and the recommendations of the committee had been forwarded by the Minister to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Port Operators Shower Encomiums On Former MD NPA, Sarumi At 70

L-R: Representative of Olubadan of Ibadan, Professor Femi Lani, former
 Managing Director Of NPA, Adebayo Sarumi and his immediate successor
 at the NPA who is now also a former MD, Mallam Abdusallam  Abubakar
 during a celebration to mark the 70th Birthday of Chief Sarumi in Lagos yesterday.

Maritime industry stakeholders yesterday converged in Lagos to commemorate and celebrate the life and time of its icon and former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Chief Adebayo Sarumi.

At a colloquium held to honor the port industry reform executioner the stakeholders eschewed the virtues of Sarumi and the various reforms he introduced into the port system, while he was the chief executive officer of NPA..

The occasion was graced by terminal operators, ship owners, former directors of NPA, truck operators, master mariners association as well as maritime lawyers and a host of others.

Speaking at the event, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Barrister Hassan Bello said that the port regulator role given to the agency today was initially planted by Sarumi when he was at the saddle as the Executive Secretary of the Shippers’ Council.

AUTO POLICY: FG Mulls 5 Years Age Limit For Imported Used Vehicles

•         Policy May Start January , 2014
•         But ANLCA, NAGAFF call for cancellation of policy

There are strong indications that come 2015; vehicles that are more than five years old may no longer be imported into Nigeria.
The proposal, which will be the last leg in the implementation of the controversial Federal Government‘s automobile policy is already being considered at the highest level of government.
Our correspondent confirmed last week that, the decision to extend the collection of 35 per cent levy on imported used vehicles was to allow sufficient time for agitations over the policy to die down.
The revelation came on the heels of last week affirmation by the National Automotive Council (NAC) that, government had granted a further six months extension from the June 30, 2014 deadline.
But it also coincided with a call by two leading freight forwarding associations in Nigeria, that the auto policy should be suspended in totality. 

Nigeria Spends N1.5 Trillion Importing Cars, Spare Parts ---Minister

Trade and Investment Minister; Dr. Olusegun Aganga

The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigeria annually spends $9.6 billion (equivalent of N1.5 trillion) on the importation of cars and spare parts.
Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga said this on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
According to him, every year, the country spends over $3 billion on the importation of new cars, $3.2bn on used cars and another $3.4bn on auto spare parts.
"Today, we spend more than $3 billion every year importing new cars, we also spend another $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion importing used cars and spare parts respectively", he said.
Aganga lamented that with every importation, Nigeria was creating new jobs in other nations, saying "that is not the best way to go as a country".

Duty On Used Cars Not 70% – FG

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has affirmed that import duty on used cars remains 35 per cent

He also said that there was no truth in media reports that duty on used cars had been increased to 70 per cent with effect from July 1 based on the new National Automotive Policy.

Aganga said this in an interview with State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, where he said the council members were appropriately briefed in order to correct the misrepresentation.

Duty On Used Cars Not 70% – FG

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has affirmed that import duty on used cars remains 35 per cent

He also said that there was no truth in media reports that duty on used cars had been increased to 70 per cent with effect from July 1 based on the new National Automotive Policy.

Aganga said this in an interview with State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, where he said the council members were appropriately briefed in order to correct the misrepresentation.

Customs Rakes-in N1bn From Duty On Vehicles Imported Through Border

The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),
Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi

The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, has said that the service collected  more than  N1 billion duty  on about 5,000 vehicles imported  into Nigeria through neighbouring countries.
Abdullahi, who is the immediate past Vice Chairman for West and Central African Region of World Customs Organisations (WCO), disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja.
According to Abdullahi, the WCO encourages the establishment of regional cooperation on transit and security matters.
``It also helps to secure the cooperation of our neighbours in handing over transit vehicles to NCS.
``So far, over 5,000 vehicles have been handed over with duty of over N1 billion.
``This has helped to save resources often deployed to pursue smugglers’’, he added.

AUTO POLICY: FG Officially Extends Implementation Of 35% Levy On Used Vehicles To January 2015

Even as stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry are becoming more apprehensive over the implementation date of the 30 per cent levy payable on imported used vehicles, there is a confirmation that the Federal Government has indeed granted the prayers of those who wanted extension.
Ahead of yesterday’s official commencement of the National Automotive Policy, the implementing agency; the National Automotive Council (NAC) issued a press statement to confirm that there will be no collection of 35 levy on imported used vehicles until January 1, 2015.

Anxiety As New Auto Policy Kicks-off Today

Minister of Finance;    Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and
 Minister of Trade and Investment: Dr Olusegun Aganga.

• We are ready for implementation --Customs

All is set for the full implementation of the new Federal Government policy on automobile today, ending weeks of high-level lobbying by stakeholders, who had wanted a delay in the aspect that concerns payment of 35 per cent levy on all imported used vehicles.
Under the new policy, vehicles imported into the country with effect from today, July 1 2014 will attract a duty of 35 per cent and a levy of 35 per cent.
And to demonstrate its preparedness, the Nigeria Customs said it was unaware of any lobby for extension and that it has not received any directive to extend implementation date.
The National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Customs; Mr Wale Adeniyi told Shipping Positing Daily that, “the effective date of implementation is tomorrow (today).
“I am not aware of any lobby, if there is any; it should be directed at the appropriate quarters where policies are made”, the image maker of Customs said yesterday.