The Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) says that the association records more than 2,300 stowaways annually and that for each repatriated stowaway, shipping lines are mandated to pay $2,000 to the government.
The Chairman of SAN, Boma Alabi, told journalists in Lagos that a minimum of two to three stowaways are arrested every week per ship.
“And we have about 15 ships coming to Nigeria. So if you multiply three stowaways by 52 weeks, making up a year, and with 15 ships that come to the country, you will have 2,340 stowaways every year. And for each stowaway that is repatriated, we pay $2,000,” she said.
Alabi explained that the issue of stowaways is very common in the Nigerian maritime domain and lamented that despite paying some government agencies to protect the ships and make the environment conducive, these stowaways still find their way onto their ships.
“Meanwhile, we are paying these agencies for the safety of the vessels, and they are collecting their payment in US dollars. Again, dollarising the economy, and yet you are not providing the service. You are putting Nigerians at risk because of these stowaways, some of them lose their lives in the process. And it’s out of ignorance,” Alabi said.
Alabi described stowaways as a major pandemic in Nigeria that needs to be dealt with, emphasizing that these inefficiencies impact the quality of the country’s exports.
“Why is there such a high rejection rate of Nigerian agricultural produce? Because we have such delays. By the time I load my container here, and it takes me six to eight weeks to get it out of the country, my competitor, once they come, they go out immediately,” she said.
She lamented that government agencies are not doing their duties efficiently.
“So, until these agencies realise that this inefficiency is killing trade and impacting negatively on the maritime sector, and in so doing on all of us, imagine the number of jobs that are being lost. Because we’re not expanding, because the demand is not there. Lekki Port is one of the first new investments we’ve had in many, many years,” she said.
GIK/APA