NIPOST sanctions 16 courier operators for violation of law

Revokes 10 licences
About 16 courier companies were recently sanctioned by the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) of the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST), the postal carrier, which delivers mails to businesses and citizens, for violating the rule guiding the courier industry.

Six of the firms were arrested for illegal operations while 10 others had their licences withdrawn for failure to renew them.
Licenced courier companies perform a variety of activities such as processing, assessment and clearance of the goods and the delivery of goods and parcels to designated recipients in various locations in or outside the country.

The Senior Assistant Postmaster General, and Head, Courier Regulatory Department, NIPOST, Ishaya Musa Diwa, said the concerned operators had over the years, engaged in unethical practices that had deprived government of huge revenue and also put the courier business at risk for Nigerians, who wished to do genuine business with the operators.

Diwa said the move to revoke the licences of the 10 operators and the sealing of offices of another six courier companies in Lagos, became necessary in order to sanitise the industry of illegality that often affect genuine businesses in the sector.

The 10 operators whose licences were revoked in different parts of Lagos were: Impex Worldwide; Leyman Express; City Errands; Oda Courier; Royalways Express; Seba Watch Limited; Skyland Express; Spread Forth Limited; Trans Citis Logistics Limited; and Trans Continental Express.

The six courier operators whose offices were sealed include: Mitchelle Mercantile Limited; Triple J. Chinese Restaurant; Chizzy Nigeria Limited; Essay Holdings Limited; Errandz 4 You and Finger King.

Items such as motorcycles, weigh bills, and delivery invoices were seized from the operators, as evidence to prove that they operate courier business in Nigeria, but do not have the licence to run such businesses.

Encouraging all the licensed courier operators to ensure proper branding of their motorcycles for their dispatch riders, Diwa, also appealed to Nigerians not to transact businesses with the courier operators whose licences were revoked, and offices sealed.

However, he added that the sealed offices would be reopened for business after they must have regularised their operations.
Many of the poor services and sharp practices witnessed in the industry are prevalent among unlicensed operators, which such clampdowns are meant to check.

The Head, Enforcement of (CRD), Ebiloma Andrew, who led the team on the clamped down exercise said, “We used our surveillance team with the journalists to detect unregistered courier operators and we go after them to track them because they constitute nuisance in the industry by indulging in sharp practices because they know full well that their customers cannot trace them when they are duped,”

Andrew said, most of the unregistered operators use fictitious addresses in order to escape easily after carrying out their dubious businesses.

According to him, the unregistered operators secure contracts to deliver items and end up not delivering the items after collecting huge amount of money from the customer to deliver the courier items.

He assured Nigerians and all licensed courier operators of the determination of the CRD team to sanitise the courier industry and make it more attractive to customers and investors.