Nigerian Ports are destination for illegal cargoes, NDLEA alleges

Abiola Seun |

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has alleged that some ships and their crew bring in illegal consignments from the ports of origin into the country.

NDLEA also hinted that the shipments are perfected at the Nigerian end of the transaction by collaborators on arrival at the nation’s ports.

Disclosing this in Lagos at the Joint Vessel Boarding Meeting held in Lagos,Assistant Area Commander, NDLEA, Mercy Thompson, noted that the recent drug seizure made at Tin-can Island Port by the Agency was also brought in the same way.

She therefore implored ship crew members to cooperate with representatives government agencies boarding vessels, while complaining that most times, the ship captains and their crew refuse to come out to meet them while other times the crew are very uncooperative.

She further noted that hard drugs are responsible for the increasing crime rate in the country, as most persons involved in crime usually spike their system with hard drugs.

Assistant Comptroller General, ACG, Nigeria Immigration Services, NIS, Doris Braimah, said that the NIS has a system where officers of the Service send daily reports of their activities to the Zonal Head Office.

Braimah noted that the NIS has its procedures and requirements that are supposed to be met by visiting ships ,adding that some crew members come into the country without visas.

She called on the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC, to inform shipping lines of these procedures and requirements ahead of their ship visit to the nation’s ports.

Reacting, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Hassan Bello, confirmed that he has heard that some ship Captains refuse to meet government agencies.

Bello said henceforth Captains are expected to submit their entry notice to NPA in advance while the NPA, in turn, should make the document available to other government agencies involved in the boarding of vessels.