Cargo clearance at Nigerian ports was recently disrupted after a cyber attack hit the Information Communication Technology platform of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Licensed Customs agents say they are already losing money due to extra demurrage charges from the delay.
According to Vanguard, Customs spokesman and Assistant Comptroller, Maiwada Abdullahi, confirmed the incident but said operations have been restored.
He said, “Yes, our platform was attacked some time ago, but it has been rectified and is now fully operational. We have strengthened our systems to ensure that cybercriminals will find it much more difficult to penetrate in the future.”
Abdullahi also revealed that discussions are ongoing with stakeholders about possible relief measures for importers affected during the system outage.
President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero, blamed the disruption on faults in the new B’Odogwu homegrown ICT platform. He said, “The government needs to overhaul the newly introduced B’Odogwu ICT platform, there are defects that need to be corrected. The same defects that were experienced during the era of West Blue before Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was the Finance Minister at that time, intervened, is the same issue currently affecting the B’Odogwu system. The glitch has resulted in huge demurrage, huge storage charges, distortion in business plan and high cost of clearance.”
Amiwero criticised major trade groups for what he described as silence over the situation. “Manufacturers Association, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture are all there doing nothing. They cannot even react to the situation. All they do is to hold conferences. These groups ought to be at the Vanguard of protest against these anomalies rocking the port industry but they chose to keep quiet as if all is well,” he said.
An importer and licensed Customs agent, Olawale Odu, urged the government to step in. He said, “The Nigeria Customs Service should engage terminal operators and shipping companies to find a way to assuage the losses to importers by granting them waivers.”
