The freight and forwarding agents under the aegis of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders,(NAGAFF), at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport,(MMA), Lagos, has said that the Federal Government, agents and handling companies have lost billions of naira to the closure of Bulk Breaking Area of the cargo section
and appealed to the Federal Government to re-open the closed warehouses at the airport in the interest of safety and security.
This is just as it alleged that that there are large volumes of perishable goods, which are either going for export or import, but were held up in the warehouses due to the closure.
President of NAGAFF, Lagos Airport Chapter, Mr. Olusegun Musa, made the appeal while speaking to journalists on the closure of a section of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCo) warehouse, following the crisis between clearing agents and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) .
Musa said that NAGAFF regretted the action that led to the closure of the warehouses, adding that several billions of naira had been lost to the crisis on the side of the agents, ground handlers and government agencies.
He noted that since the crisis started last week, the clearing agents have met with the officials of NCS, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria( FAAN), ground handlers and other relevant stakeholders to forestall a recurrence.
The NAGAFF president stated that the Association would use the current development to correct some abnormalities noticed in the system; such as the delay in cargo clearance mainly caused by inadequate manpower at the warehouses.
Source : Independent