Importers, Cargo Handlers Fight as Demurrage Hits N2bn

• Importers, Cargo Handlers Fight as Demurrage Hits N2bn

Many importers were dumbfounded following the imposition of demurrage on their goods despite knowing that the COVID-19 lockdown enforced by the Federal Government had prevented them from clearing their goods since March.

According to our checks, goods worth billions of naira brought into the country since March remained in the warehouse of cargo handlers and have accumulated storage fees of over N2 billion.

At a daily storage fee of about N12 per kilo, some of the cargoes had accumulated storage fees in excess of N4 million during the five weeks they had been in storage.

Speaking on the situation, the Managing Director, Skynet Worldwide, a major courier service provider, Tayo Ogundare, said, “Since the lockdown, our goods have been in the warehouses at the airport. The Customs were not working; the airport staff were not working.

“There are billions of naira worth of goods in the warehouses. Importers cannot access their goods now that the lockdown has been lifted because the handling companies are asking for demurrage.

“The Federal Government should intervene and waive the demurrage. There are people that have 20,000 kilogrammes, 3,800 kg and other cargo weights in the warehouses. Some of them will pay up to N3m; others, N4m or more in demurrage if it is not waived.”

The Logistics Manager, Smile Communications, a leading Internet service provider, Danjuma Okeme, said, “We shipped our network-related items before the lockdown.

“We were in the process of clearing them; we had to go to Apapa to pay the Customs duty since the banks at the airport were not open.

“The agency needed just one or two documentation to complete the clearing process before the lockdown.”

Okeme whose company has more than three tonnes of routers stuck in the warehouses insisted that the cargo was a special duty cargo that was not supposed to be affected by the lockdown.

He said, “Now the line is handicapped and we cannot service our customers.

“The situation is affecting our network. Customers are calling from everywhere because everything, including schools, is now online.

“It is a pity that at this critical time, Smile cannot stand for its customers. Some people have gone ahead and paid for the service, but we cannot work because our equipment is in the warehouse.”

According to him, if demurrage should be calculated on the cargo belonging to the firm, it will have to pay over N4m for the period.

He said, “I think the government should call a stakeholders’ meeting and let everybody know that during lockdown or war, people are not supposed to pay any kind of demurrage,” he said.

Another agent and a member of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, Kayode Agimati, pointed out that the lockdown was not the fault of the cargo owners, saying that the Federal Government had asked people to stay at home and away from the airports.

He said, “When the lockdown was lifted, we were expecting to be told to pay the handling charges. We did not expect them to ask us for demurrage on the cargo that we could not clear during the lockdown.

“During the lockdown, all the warehouses at the airport were locked and nobody could clear goods.”

He said some of his clients’ goods had accumulated N2.4m while others had accumulated N800,000 and more in demurrage.”