Return of ‘wharf rats’
Nigerians who thought concessioning was the antidote to the challenges posed by ‘wharf rats’ at the country’s sea ports may not be entirely right. The criminals in human skin who
- This is a national embarrassment that must be stopped by all means
Nigerians who thought concessioning was the antidote to the challenges posed by ‘wharf rats’ at the country’s sea ports may not be entirely right. The criminals in human skin who are making life unbearable for importers have not been finally defeated: they are gradually returning to the ports.
Several importers are now counting their losses as their consignments at the ports are now being tampered with by the criminals, especially at the Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) terminals of the Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos.
The criminals’ targets include catalytic converters, stereo sets, side mirrors, inner mirrors, vehicle sensors, batteries, spare tyres, wheel spanners, jacks, front grills, brain boxes and other critical vehicle components.
These items are stripped from cars that are awaiting clearance from the ports.
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These criminals now appear to be stealing too much for the owner to notice and the victims say they can no longer continue to bear the cost of replacing the stolen vehicle parts.
One of such importers is Kelvin who reportedly said on X that: “It has become a norm with this terminal. They also did the same thing with my 2014 Camry when it entered Nigeria through this same terminal. I spent up to N500,000 replacing what they stole from the car”.
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Another importer reportedly said it cost him about N600,000 to replace the items that were stolen from a vehicle he imported.
Since the 2006 concessioning of the ports, the responsibility of maintaining security within their facilities has been largely the duty of the private terminal operators.
Then, the concessionaires introduced tighter security measures, including strict control of access into the terminal areas, among others, which enhanced security of goods at the ports. This engendered confidence of the port users and others that their consignments were safe.
These measures worked and the incidence of pilfering at the ports was seriously reduced, at least until sometime in 2020 when the ‘wharf rats’ returned.
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Again, security measures were tightened and they fizzled out.
The only explanation for their resurgence this time is security lapses that they always exploit. It would seem the port operators and others who should ensure that consignments are delivered to their owners intact have lowered their guards.
An astonishing revelation by some of the ports users is that it is not all the terminals that are covered by CCTV. This sounds incredible in a prominent port like Tin Can Island in the 21st Century.
While we cannot say that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) should be held responsible for items in the care of private ports operators, the authority, as landlord regulator, still has some oversight functions on their activities. There should be some minimum requirements below which the operators cannot fall.
We do not expect any qualified ports operator to wait to be advised to install a simple thing as CCTVs; but where some of them want to operate below such minimum requirements, the ports authority should ensure they comply with the basic minimum standards in all respects.
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Nobody knows the terminal operators; it is the NPA that people know within and outside the country. It is NPA that features in any good or bad news that is emanating from the place. That is why the authority cannot just look the other way simply because the facilities there are in private hands.
Again, we understand that some of the stevedoring companies that open the containers employ miscreants and questionable characters. This, if true, as alleged by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wealthy Honey Investments Nigeria Limited, Farinto Kayode, is wrong.
As Kayode noted, “the terminal operators should review and update their security system and examine the various stevedoring companies they use because you don’t expect an importer who has containerised his goods to bear the brunt.” The consignments are containerised in the first place to ensure safety of the goods.
We urge importers whose consignments have been tampered with to file for claims from the concerned terminal operators who should be under obligation to make up. Failing which legal action can be taken against them.
Everything must be done to stop this sad, unprofessional, shameful and embarrassing development at our ports.
