Following earlier threat by the port economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) to shutdown bonded terminals over illegal charges, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has accused some of the operators scattered around the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos of carrying out activities, which are not licensed.

The NPA also warned that those who continue on that path would be shut down. While the shippers’ council threat of shutdown was predicated on complaints by customs agents, the NPA’s action which commenced this week was as a result of alleged stripping of containers that have exited the port.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, the NPA’s Tin Can Island Port Traffic Manager, Mr. Peter Abiri, said many of the terminals were being used for illegal activities.

The NPA action, he stated, was in response to cries by licensed Customs agents at the port, that the activities of the bonded terminals was the major cause of the traffic gridlock along the Tin Can Port corridor, especially as all the terminals now share a single access.

Abiri said suspending the discharge of containers also known as “stripping” operations at the terminals would help clear the access roads of articulated trucks hindering free flow of traffic.