By Chris Eze
A coalition of operators at the Onne Port, Rivers State have vowed to shut down the port from Monday, following the inability of the port management to respond to critical demands from operators for ease of business in the country.
The operators, who are made up of the 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 Minister of Trade and Blue Economy and other relevant government agencies to address the poor facilities prevalent at the port.
The Chairman of the Onne Port branch of ANLCA, Chief Ifeanyi Nsikak who read the text of the conference, frowned at the Nigeria Ports Authority Onne, for failure to provide parking lots and holding bays for trucks awaiting loading.
Of note, he stated “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 the crisis is the deplorable and death traps of the access roads leading to the Onne Port, which continued to endanger lives, destroy goods and cripple legitimate businesses,” the coalition stated
The operators called for the suspension of the E-Call up system where each truck lifting containers out of the port is required to pay a levy of 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.
Lending his voice to the outcry of the operators, Comrade Uche Ogbu, chairman of the Truck Owners and Drivers Union at the port lamented the loses his union members incurred in the course of their business.
He vowed that as from Monday August 17, 2026 his members would commenced strike action to drive home their demands for better facilities at the port.
Chairman of the Onne Youth Congress, Comrade Obari Johnson who spoke in solidarity with the operators also narrated the difficulties the host community is 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.
