Emma Okonji
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), through its Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD), on Wednesday, clamped down on four courier operators in Lagos for allegedly defrauding the federal government and the general public.
CLRD said it was able to establish that the courier operators were operating without valid courier licence through surveillance.
The illegal operation, the CLRD added, amounts to defrauding the federal government of the one-off licence fee that they were supposed to pay into government account.
Also, NIPOST said it has put plans in place to prosecute the courier operators whom they accused of defrauding the general public by collecting jobs worth millions of Naira and ending up not delivering the items that have been paid for since they operate without regulation and licence.
The courier companies, According to NIPOST, include: FTD Logistics Ltd, located in Surulere; SWIFTEX Logistics Limited, located in Anifowose, Ikeja; Massive Solaric Limited, located in Ikeja and Zibia Speed Limited, located in Alausa, Ikeja.
According to NIPOST, the one-off licence fee is N250,000, while the yearly renewal fee is N100,000 for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) category of courier operators.
The clampdown team, which comprised of a special enforcement team from CLRD, and Police officers from Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), Alagbon, Lagos, was led by the Assistant General Manager in charge of Ethics, Complain and Strategy at CLRD, Mr. Worimegbe Banks.
Items confiscated from the courier operators, which were proof of courier operations, include, used invoice booklets, receipt booklets, parcel weighing machine, and dispatch motor-bikes. Their managers were also arrested.
General Manager, CLRD, Mr. Gideon Shonde, who gave details of the raid and why it was carried out, said the clampdown was meant to sanitize the courier industry, where unhealthy and sharp practices have been going on for for time.
“The federal government is losing huge sums of money to illegal courier operators that operate under cover to also defraud customers. They disguise themselves as genuine courier operators, collect jobs worth millions of Naira from customers, and will not deliver on the jobs and it will be difficult for customers to trace them because of their questionable identity. The Post Master General of the Federation is worried about this development and has ordered the enforcement team of CLRD to go after illegal courier operators, in a bid to clean up the sector of all illegal activities,” Shonde said.
“Most of the illegal courier operators are recalcitrant and they are not ready to abide by the rules of courier operations in Nigeria, ”he added
He gave instance of the action of the management of Massive Solaric Limited, which he said had been earlier raided and the office sealed by CLRD, but that its management jumped bail, broke NIPOST seal and forcefully opened the office and continued with its illegal operations.
Shonde explained that such action amounts to double offensive, which he said would be interpreted by the court, during prosecution.
He advised the general public to desist from patronising illegal courier operators.
He also advised licensed courier operators who may have decided to close office for some reasons, to follow due process by informing CLRD, three months before the expiration of their licence.
