Importers operating through the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports are facing mounting financial pressure as empty container delays continue to trigger avoidable demurrage and detention charges. The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria, APFFLON, raised the concern, blaming inadequate facilities for receiving empty containers after cargo delivery.
In a statement made available to Vanguard, APFFLON National President, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, said many importers were unable to return containers within the stipulated free period. He explained that the situation was largely caused by inadequate receiving arrangements provided by shipping companies, leaving importers with additional charges despite having completed the use of the containers.
Ogunojemite specifically accused the Mediterranean Shipping Company, MSC, of repeatedly failing to provide sufficient facilities for the return of empty containers.
According to him, the resulting bottlenecks have slowed cargo movement, reduced truck turnaround and contributed to congestion around the Apapa port corridor. He said the empty container delays had become an operational problem affecting not only importers but also freight forwarders and transport operators.
“It is unacceptable for a shipping company to continue issuing containers to importers without providing an efficient system for receiving the empty containers after use,” Ogunojemite said. He argued that importers should not bear financial penalties arising from problems they did not create.
“Why should importers be punished financially for a problem created by the shipping company?” he asked.
The APFFLON president described the situation as an unfair burden on Nigerian businesses and said it contradicted the Federal Government’s efforts to promote fair trade and improve the ease of doing business.
Ogunojemite called on the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Nigerian Shippers’ Council and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, to investigate the complaints. He urged the agencies to ensure that shipping companies complied with operational requirements for receiving empty containers. According to him, effective enforcement would help prevent businesses from accumulating unnecessary demurrage and detention charges.
The APFFLON president noted that the challenge persisted despite government investments in road rehabilitation, port digitalisation and other measures designed to reduce cargo dwell time. He said the continued empty container delays undermined the gains expected from those reforms because importers were still exposed to additional costs after their cargo had been cleared.
Ogunojemite maintained that shipping companies must provide adequate systems for receiving containers if the government’s broader objective of reducing port congestion and the cost of doing business is to be achieved. He said resolving the problem would not only reduce financial losses for importers but also improve truck movement, cargo evacuation and efficiency across Nigeria’s major ports.
