Tension Over Cargo Release Procedure

A momentory confusion, steeped in anxiety, heralded the change announced in cargo release procedure  by the Customs high command penultimate week.

The Customs hierarchy has ordered that the passwords hitherto held by officers on  the Chief Superintendent of Customs(CSC) cadre and below with which they assess Customs server to authorise release of goods be immediately withdrawn and given to the officers on the Assistant  Comptroller cadre and above.

The password is a secret code assigned to an authorised Customs officer which  enables him to access the customs server and effect release of goods from Customs control.

These secret codes were hitherto held by the officers in the middle-ranked cadre who are more in number for quick release of goods.

But the recent pronouncement which now places the responsibility of authorising release of cargo on the senior-ranked cadre led to a temporary ‘system failure’ as the change caught the affected officers and clearing agents off-guide.

Investigations conducted by BH revealed that the confusion arose as a result of the dearth of officers on the senior cadre in most of the commends, a development which led to a  temporary distruption of cargo release last week.

At the Ports and Terminal Multi-Services Limited(PTML) command of the Nigeria Customs Service, there was  tension as the order led to stoppage of cargo release which led to the agitation of agents whose goods were caught in the web of  change.

It was learnt that only one officer who falls within the category of specified officers could release goods at the terminal last week, a development which led to backlog of accummulated cargo.

But Mr Ogbonna, the Customs public relations officer of the command, told BH that the situation has normalised as the command has deployed four ACs to the flash points within the terminal.

“We are on top of the situation. What happened was the normal practice in Customs where senior officers are given higher responsibility,” Ogbonna said.

Wale Adeniyi, the National public relations officer of Customs acknowleged the hiccups which the new policy created at the PTML command, promising that the Customs hierachy was already looking into the situation.

He explained that the change announced by the Customs high command was meant to strenghten internal control mechanism in the service and give responsibility to the senior officers.

“It was not as a result of the loss of confidence in the middle-ranked officers as being speculated,” he emphasised.

Some concerned industry operators have berated the Customs high command for not giving enough time for transition, but rather chose to rush the change which they lamented has created tension in the cargo delivery procedure.

They aso observed that some of these senior officers on whose shoulders the new procedure lies have little or no computer knowledge which is central to their new responsibility.

This observation was corroborated at the Tin Can command of the service when BH found out that an ad-hoc  arrangement was hurriedly  put in  place to train some senior-ranked officers in computer appreciation.

Adeniyi, however, debunked the claims when he disclosed that computer appreciation course is an on-going trainning for top Customs officers  and not necessarily done as a response to  the new responsibility.