Freight forwarders operating at the Lagos ports have shut down operations at shipping companies in Apapa over the recent increase in charges.
Aggrieved freight agents who are members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Western Zone, trooped out in scores at the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Apapa office, stopping operations at about 1:35 pm.
They demanded that activities at the shipping company be closed from 6 am on Tuesday and daily until the shipping company reverts to its former charges.
The freight agents said they stressed that the planned increments, coming barely three years after shipping lines raised tariffs by over 400 per cent, are difficult to justify given the relative stabilisation of key cost drivers such as foreign exchange rates and diesel prices.
Speaking on the issue, the Western Zone Coordinator of ANLCA, Femi Anifowose, stressed that the cumulative burden of port-related charges is steadily pushing up import costs, with consequences that will ultimately be borne by consumers.
Anifowose said unchecked shipping charges and persistent operational inefficiencies at the ports are undermining trade facilitation and worsening inflationary pressures in Nigeria’s import-dependent economy.
Beyond the impact of rising charges, Anifowose accused shipping companies operating in Apapa of failing to demonstrate social responsibility to their host communities despite generating substantial revenues from Nigeria’s international trade.
The protests were joined by other freight forwarding associations, including the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and the African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), among others.
The NAGAFF Tin Can Chapter Chairman, Dr. Emeka Paul Chiedozie, rejected the increase in charges by MSC, also describing the shipping line’s container refund policy as the worst among operators in Nigeria.
He questioned the justification for the upward review of charges amid unresolved operational challenges and unpaid container deposits.
Chiedozie said freight forwarders are being unfairly burdened by a system that requires them to physically visit MSC offices to process container refunds, only for payments to remain outstanding for months.
Chiedozie said NAGAFF members at Tin Can Island Port would not accept the increment, stressing that the association would formally escalate the matter to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the economic regulator of the port sector.
“We are saying a big no to this increment, and we will take up the matter with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. If you check the containers littered on the port access roads, you would find that over 75 per cent of them belong to MSC,” he said.
On his part, the MSC Africa Regional Controller, Finance and Administration, Mr. Jesse Chege, noted that the increment had been deliberated over a two-year period with Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC).
He noted that the need for increment was due to increased cost of doing business in the country, adding that NSC had approved the new charges in December 2025.
