Port Operators Vow Showdown With NPA Over Poor Facilities At Onne Port

A coalition of operators at the Onne port, Rivers State have vowed to shut down the port from next Monday, following the inability of the port management to respond to critical demands from the operators for ease of business.

The operators made up of Association of Nigeria Licenced Custom Agents, (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, (NAGAFF), Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, (MWUN), among others at a press conference at the ANLCA secretariat, Onne called on the Federal Ministry of Trade and Blue Economy and other relevant government agencies to address the poor facilities prevalent at the port.

Onne Port branch Chairman of ANLCA, Chief Ifeanyi Nsikak, carpeted the Nigeria Ports Authority at Onne, for its failure to provide parking lots and holding bays for trucks awaiting loading.

“Of particularly note is the unabated illegal parking of trucks across Onne roads and the imminent chaos occasioned by the Nigerian Ports Authority’s failure to honour it’s commitment to provide adequate facilities and sufficient

“Holding bays at Onne Port prior to the commencement of the E-Call up system

“Compounding this crisis is the deplorable and death trap condition of the access road leading to Onne Port, which continue to endanger lives, destroy goods and cripple legitimate business” the coalition stated

The operators called for the suspension of the E-Call up system where each truck lifting container out of the port is required to pay a levyof N16,500 until parking lots and Holding bays are provided.

They vowed that as from Monday, August 17, 2026, they would resist the enforcement of the E-Call up until the right things are done

According to the operators, a whopping sum of N487 billion was generated by the Nigeria Customs alone at the port between January to July this year and wondered why the NPA as the landlord at the port could not utilize a fraction of the fund to fix facilities at the port.

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Lending his voice to the outcry of the operators, Uche Ogbu, chairman of the Truck Owners and Drivers Union at the port, lamented the loses his union members incur in the course of their business.

He vowed that as from Monday August 17, 2026 his members will commence a strike action to drive home their demand for better facilities at the port.

Chairman of the Onne Youth Congress, Obari Johnson, who spoke in solidarity with the operators also narrated the difficulties the host community people are facing with the indiscriminate parking of trucks along the roads within the community as a result of lack of designated holding bays for the trucks

He expressed support to whatever action the operators may decide to use to draw attention to the crisis in the port.