Key players in the transportation industry have raised concerns over the growing security challenges in the sector, while calling for urgent intervention to address the issue.
Speaking at the ongoing National Transport Summit of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria, the chairman of the event, Julius Adeluyi, stated that the transportation modes in Nigeria had been altered following the invasion of the transport space by criminals across the country.
He said the aim of the summit was to address the issues of transportation modes and terminals as vectors of threats to safety and security.
He added that it would also help in monitoring and control of threats as well as cyber security of transportation infrastructure and organisations vulnerable to damage, hacking and access to information technologies and their associated logistic networks.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Emmanuel Jime, said shippers were paying high freight on goods coming to Nigerian ports due to poor security rating of Nigeria, adding that cargoes which were supposed to go to the Eastern ports (Calabar and Port Harcourt) were being diverted to Lagos ports due to the high rate of insecurity on the Niger-Delta waterways.
He further said that this led to high freight differential between the Lagos ports and Eastern ports as shipping firms slammed war risk insurance premium on the cargoes.
Meanwhile, the Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Bashir Jamoh, noted that NIMASA’s Deep Blue Project was to improve security in Nigeria’s waters and to reduce the payment of war risk insurance by ships coming to Nigerian ports.
