More illegal courier operators fall in NIPOST raids

The Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) has for the second time in about two weeks successfully conducted raids and arrests of those conducting illegal courier business within the Lagos metropolis. Those affected by the action were Delta Line Courier, Transworld Courier, Akinskevin Express and KTA Freight /Courier.

Expressing his gratitude on behalf of the Postmaster General, Abubakar Argungu, after the raids, NIPOST Senior Assistant Postmaster-General, Simon Emeje, who coordinated the operation, said sanitisation of the Nigerian courier business had to go on. "This is a phase of our plans", he said.

Emeje went on to deny allegations that NIPOST might just be harassing those pursuing their businesses. "We are not harassing anyone. We have a procedure. The procedure will show that we are not trying to kill their business", he said.

He also stated that his department had taken precautions to avoid leakages on destinations to which NIPOST was going to raid. He speculated that some companies that were not licensed may have closed shop after hearing of the first raids. "They might also have gone underground after transacting a particular business", he said.

Emeje said that all the companies that were raided had been observed for a long period. "The government had exercised a lot of patience for over one year", he said.

Emeje was quick to defend the NIPOST fees, saying they were arrived at from market survey. "The rates we are charging are very low compared with other regulatory bodies like Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)", he said.

When suggestions were made for NIPOST to maintain payment on categorization basis considering that some of the operators limited their services to operations only within a city or locality, Emeje confirmed that the NIPOST license fees had been charged on this basis in the past. "There was categorization until 1993 when it was discovered that this was being abused", he said. "Operators were operating beyond the locality given them", he added. Emeje however said NIPOST might reconsider categorization after the industry is was fully sanitized.

He however noted strongly that regulalisation by the illegal courier operators did not stop at the payment of the license fee. "There are other requirement such as the state of the head office, sorting facility, one branch in at least five states, vehicles, sorting in each branch", Emeje said. "They must also have operational manual to tell how their business is operated, must fully display the items that are prohibited, must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and have a lease agreement among other things", he added.

Emeje then equated license fee payment to about two per cent of the NIPOST requirement. "Fee is not our priority. NIPOST's priority is to ensure there is compliance with our requirement. Inspection is a crucial requirement in our process after filling the form for registration. The process completed only when you are given a license. Those who have paid from the previous raid have gone to prepare themselves for inspection", he said.

NIPOST charges a license fee of N1 million and an Annual Renewal Fee of N250,000 for operators of courier services. The corporation also monitors and ensures that rules and ethical aspects of courier operations in Nigeria are followed. It has promised to revoke the licenses of operators who are violating those rules.

NIPOST had several times in the past two years given series of warnings, and deadlines to illegal courier operators to obtain license for their business. The last deadline elapsed in July, two months after a list of 50 legal operators was published in the papers. About two ago NIPOST its first raid on illegal operators. Four illegal courier companies were arrested in that instant.