By Godfrey Ofurum.
The South-South coordinating office of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has assured shippers and others doing business in the ports that the ports in the Eastern part of the country are safe for shipping and other business operations.
The NSC, therefore, appealed to shippers in the South-East/South-South regions of the country to use the Eastern ports comprising Onne, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri for their shipping business.
Glory Onojedo, director, South-South coordinating office of the NSC, made the appeal while interacting with journalists at the maritime police training in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
The training was organised by the NSC to equip maritime police with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to efficiently carry out their duties of guarding operation of the ports.
Onojede said though insecurity and lack of dredging of the ports waterways affected the optimal operation of the ports, insecurity in the region was now a thing of the past. He advised those in shipping and other businesses in the ports to bring in their cargos to the Eastern ports, especially Onne, which he said has good waterways that can take cargo vessels.
Assuring that the bottlenecks experienced in other ports do not exist in the Eastern ports, Onojede urged shippers and other terminal operators in the East to bring their business to the ports in order to promote business in the region.
Speaking on the maritime police training, Ibrahim Kaoje, an assistant inspector general of police, observed that the role of maritime police in maritime industry cannot be overemphasized as it is a significant priority sector in the economy of the country.
The AIG, who was represented by Evelyn Peterside, commissioner of police, Eastern Ports Police command, said the challenges of insecurity in maritime industry necessitated the training and retraining of maritime police personnel.
He commended the management of the NSC for organising the training.
