Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, said about 6,000 abandoned cargoes are lying at Apapa and Tin Can ports uncleared since 2011.

Oyetola stated this weekend during his visit to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) office in Lagos.

He said the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) physical examination in clearing processes is compounding the problem of overtime cargoes at the ports, adding that the abandoned cargo occupies space and costs the country huge losses.

“About 6,000 abandoned cargoes are lying at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports uncleared. I witnessed one of the inspections and saw cargo hanging around. I understand some of them have been there since 2011.

“There must be a time frame when the cargo must be cleared otherwise they will be declared abandoned. When the demurrage accumulated, the importers abandoned the cargoes at the ports,” he said.

Oyetola said ease of doing business at the ports must be encouraged, noting that Customs must use scanners for faster clearing processes, rather than the physical examination that is slow and accrues demurrage.

Oyetola noted that the port community system, which is a single window platform for all the actors in the maritime industry, must be pursued seriously as other developed countries have adopted technology to simplify their processes.