Agents At War With JACOFF

A widespread wave of anger and resentment against the activities of the Joint Action Committee of Freight Forwarders(JACOFF) has now erupted at the Lagos ports among the clearing agents, threatening the fragile peace at the port.

JACOFF is an amalgam of three freight forwarders bodies that include the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA),National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and the Council of Managing Directors of Freight Forwarders (NCMDFF) set up to fight the common cause of their constituents.

But major stakeholders in the freight forwarding business have raised alarm over the recent activities of the committee which they believed have visited untold harship on the agents and equally wrought incalculable damage to their profession.

They claimed that the original purpose and objectives of the body have been thrown over board as it has been turned into an instrument of blackmail and harassment of the Customs Service.

Barrister Ada Akpunonu, the Managing Director of Chief Rate International Agency is worried that people of doubtful character, who are ignorant of Customs operational activities, may have hijacked the committee and use it as an instrument of personal vendetta against the Customs Service and to achieve their selfish, pre-meditated goals.

Akpunonu, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Tin Can Chapter of ANLCA wondered why the committee had to single out the NCS for attacks and dissipitate its energies in sending malicious text messeges just to discredit the leadership of customs.

‘Customs is the least of our(agents) problems. The leadership of the service has shown enough commitment to the on-going reforms in the clearing procedures. Why has JACOFF not addressed the bare-faced extortion and mindless high charges of shipping companies and the terminal operators if truly it is fighting the cause of the agents? she queried.

According to her, JACOFF is not a registered body and should not be allowed to taint the image of ANLCA.She expressed doubt over the genuiness of purpose of JACOFF which she described as the black leg of the freight forwarding profession.