By Sylvanus Ekpo
The AIG Zone 2 in charge of Maritime in Lagos and Ogun States, Ari Ali Mohammed has warned police officers under his jurisdiction to stop interfering with cargo already cleared at the ports by Customs.
They are also not to intimidate the public over issues surrounding the searching of people’s phones on the highway.
“Police have no right to search phones on the road. It can only be done at the station when there’s a defined reason. They can arrest you at home, on the road, and in the office”, the police boss stated.
These remarks were made yesterday at a reception in honour of the AIG at the headquarters of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Apapa, Lagos.
On the menace of Area Boys on the ports corridor who unleash violence and mayhem on truck drivers, Mohammed said he would meet with the AIG concerned to find ways of tackling the menace.
On unlawful detention of freight forwarders at Alagbon on flimsy excuses, the AIG said he would discuss with the AIG in charge of Alagbon but noted that “the law does not permit the police to detain anyone more than 24 hours. The police can liaise with the courts to ensure detention beyond 24 hours.”
Speaking to a motley crowd of stakeholders, NAGAFF high Command and the Media, AIG Mohammed said the police was keen on partnership with the people and community policing in order to bring members of the public together, solve problems, produce new ideas and bring about development.
He assured his audience that under his leadership, he would be there when problems arise with his men.
In an address of welcome, the National President of NAGAFF, Chief Tochukwu Ezisi extoled the warm relationship between the AIG and the NAGAFF Founder Dr. Boniface Aniebonam dating back to his time as the Area Commander of Area ‘B’ Command of the Nigeria Police, Apapa.
He said that NAGAFF had enjoyed the unalloyed support of the Nigeria Police in its business operations nationwide and applauded its leadership for the cordial relationship.
“Your comeback is a huge blessing to NAGAFF and as co-stakeholders under the ports and logistics industry, we will continue to uphold maximum cooperation and collaboration with you as we wish you a successful tenure “.
In his brief remarks, Dr. Aniebonam said the visit of the AIG was a kind of homecoming to the NAGAFF family.
He recalled that a sister association tried unsuccessfully then to truncate the emergence of NAGAFF on the threshold of freight forwarding in Nigeria but were rebuffed by the then AIG, Hassan Bala, who defended the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria through his professional conduct.
“They came with sacks of money but unfortunately for them, AIG Hassan Bala (rtd) was a core professional police officer of repute and refused accepting bribe.”
The NAGAFF Founder disclosed that a petition had been written against his organization by a competing group ostensibly to thwart the emergence of NAGAFF without the understanding that NAGAFF had been duly registered with a Board of Trustees in place.
A major highlight of the visit was the induction of AIG Mohammed into the NAGAFF Organization.
