Anxiety as smugglers abduct Customs officer

Anxiety as smugglers abduct Customs officer

The unending rat race between smugglers and customs officers took a new dimension last weekend, some dare devil smugglers allegedly kidnapped one Customs officer ,Rasheed Abdulsalam attached to Zone ‘A’ of the Federal Operations Unit, Nigeria Customs Service.
The men and officers of the Lagos unit are presently gripped with fears over the safety of the officer who has been in the custody of his abductors since last Saturday.

They are disturbed that Abdulsalam is spending his fifth day in the kidnappers’ den who are yet to reach out the Customs authority to make any demand for ransom.

The victim was allegedly kidnapped during an operation at Sango-Ota, Ogun State.

It would be recalled, that, an officer of the Ogun State Command of the service, Musa Muhammed Maigari, was in February hacked by suspected smugglers in an ambush in Idogo area of Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Maigari who was injured, was rushed to National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos where he is still receiving treatment.

However, a Customs source at the Lagos FOU claimed that, the unit was working with the Nigerian Army and Police to bring the abductee back to the unit.

A highly placed source at the Unit who craved for anonymity,said the smugglers are yet to make contact with the unit for demand of ransom or release of consignment seized by the officers.

“The latest on this situation now is that there are concerted efforts by the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Police Force and the Army to bring him back to the unit.”

“No communication yet from the kidnappers but I know efforts are on in top gear to get the officer rescued.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered, that, apart from the missing officer, some of his colleagues also sustained varying degrees of injuries in the encounter.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Joseph Attah, said plans were afoot to rescue the abducted officer, describing Sango Ota axis of Ogun State as a den of smugglers.

It was learnt that the Customs operatives, upon receipt of intelligence report on smugglers’ activities, left their Federal Operations Unit headquarters at about 9:10pm on Saturday. They were accompanied by some soldiers in a bus and a Toyota Hilux van that was driven by the kidnapped officer, Abdulsalam.

But unknown to them, the smugglers had laid an ambush just after the popular ShopRite retail store, which is also very close to a filling station along the busy Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.

According to Attah, the anti-smuggling operatives, on running into the smugglers, could not open fire as a tanker was discharging petrol at that time and any incendiary material could have thrown the entire vicinity into a ball of fire.

“They also didn’t want any stray bullet to hit anyone. So, they exercised restraint.

“That location made it very difficult for our men to fire a single shot. The smugglers pelted their vehicles with petrol just looking for how the area will be set ablaze and swell the number of casualties. But they didn’t succeed.

“Sensing the danger, our men found a way to escape from the vicinity but not without picking one of the buses used in smuggling”, Attah explained.

But Abdulsalam, it was gathered, was unlucky as the smugglers swooped on him while he tried to assist the second driver who drove the bus. He was eventually abducted and his colleagues only got to know when the dusts settled and he could not be accounted for.

The Customs management is in the dark on his whereabouts as no staff has established contact with Abdulsalam, neither have his abductors opened any communication channel whatsoever.

The Customs spokesman appealed to people of Sango Ota to join the Service in its anti-smuggling efforts by denying sanctuary to smugglers and providing useful information on their nefarious activities.

CAT . NEWS

Operators of Lekki deep seaport replaces ICTSI with CMA CGM as investors

After a year when a Pillipino port developer, International Container Terminal Services Incorporation (ICTSI) pulled out of the agreement it signed with the Lekki port Free Trade Zone Enterprise as one of the investors in 2012 due to irreconcilable differences, the promoters of the Port have eventually found a new investor that would build and manage the container terminal in the port.
The new investors are CMA CGM.
Under the new agreement it signed with CMA CGM, the French carrier’s subsidiary, CMA Terminals will be responsible for marketing, operations and maintenance of the container terminal at the Lekki deep seaport, which will have two container berths once completed in 2020.

The company said that the latest move was in line with CMA CGM Group’s development in the region.

The container terminal will allow the group to develop its presence into West Africa’s first consumer market and will serve as a transshipment hub, especially to neighboring countries like Togo and Benin.

Upon completion, the container terminal will be equipped with a 1,200-meter-long quay as well as 13 quay cranes and will have a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs. With its 16-meter depth, it will allow the group to deploy ships with a capacity of up to 14,000 TEUs.

“As Nigeria’s first deep sea port, Lekki Port represents a strategic choice for the CMA CGM Group. Thanks to its position and capacity, Lekki Port will allow us to bring to Nigeria larger container ships from Europe and Asia to better serve our customers and pursue our commitment to the development of the entire region,” Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group, Farid T. Salem, said in a statement on Monday.

The proposed Lekki Deep Seaport will be developed, built and operated by LPLE, a joint venture enterprise led by the Tolaram Group, the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority.

It would be recalled, that, the first investor ICTSI, backed out from its N85.5 billion ($225 million) investments from the $1.5 billion public private partnership project (PPP) between the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Lagos State government and the Tolaram Group.

ICTSI’s subsidiary, Lekki International Container Terminal Services LFTZ Enterprise (LICTSE) terminated the subconcession agreement signed with Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE) in 2012 because of delays in the execution of the project.

The investor was offered an exclusive right to develop, operate and provide handling equipment and container terminal services at the port for a period of 21 years.
ICTSI was said to have been unsettled by the incessant shifting of the commencement of the project which has been postponed three times.

The project, which was slated for completion in 2016 to enable ICTSI handle the port’s container terminal with a 2.5 million Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEU) and 10,000 TEU container ships, was shifted.
It was gathered that the Tolaram Group, the core investor of the project, first shifted its operational date from 2016 to 2017 and later to 2018 and 2019.

Already, NPA has committed N1 billion into the deep seaport project. Its equity is $118 million, while the company was expecting funds from its financiers – Standard Chartered Bank, the Louis Berger Group Inc., Delta Marine Consultants, BMT Asia Pacific, TBA Netherlands, Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pte Ltd and GMaps.

In 2014, the Managing Director of the Lekki Port, Mr. Haresh Ascoani, told the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), that a structured plan had been put in place to kick-off construction works at the port to enable Lekki Port begin operation by 2018.
However, last November a new date was fixed for the commencement of the port’s construction by Tolaram Group.

The company said that it would take another 37 months or December, 2019, to complete the construction, after which the port would be commissioned.

It noted that while the port would be operated for 45 years, its container terminal would be concessioned to ICTSI for 20 years. Irked by the shifts in the commencement date three times, ICTSI decided to back out of the project.

It would be recalled that in 2012, it was envisaged that LPLE would be responsible for design and civil works with a projected investment of over $1 billion.

Also, ICTSI shall, subject to execution of a definite sub-concession agreement, provide $225 million state-of-the-art equipment and IT infrastructure and be exclusively responsible for container operation during the term of the sub-concession in line with global standards.

ICTSI and Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the operation of the container terminal of Tolaram Port at Lekki in Nigeria.

In August 2012, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) had entered into a sub-concession agreement with Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise, the promoter of the greenfield port to develop and operate a container terminal for a period of 21 years.

It was learnt that when completed, Lekki Port would have significant positive macro-economic impact estimated at $361 billion over the entire concession period.

It is also expected to contribute more than $200 billion to the government treasury, while also creating close to 163,000 new jobs in the economy.

Already, Lekki Port has secured an approval of N57 billion ($150 million) funding from the Board of African Development Bank (ADfB) for its deep seaport project.

Also, the Chief Finance Officer of the company, Mr. Sandeep Parasramka, explained that the port project had gotten a boost from one of its key investors, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), putting it on a firm footing to become operational by 2018.

But a maritime economist and Executive Director of ABN Consults, Mr. Harrison Agada, had raised the alarm on why it was difficult for banks to fund the construction of the seaport project. He had alleged that investors’ pessimism over the project was borne out of concerns for its viability.

The Federal Government of Nigeria recently pledged its total support to the Lekki Port project during the official flag-off ceremony by President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.