Nigerian Shippers Lose Over N15billion Cargo Claims Yearly

A maritime lawyer, Emeka Akabogu has revealed that Nigerian importers and exporters may be losing over than N15 billion annually to lost cargo claims.

Akabogu, who spoke with newsmen on the matter in Lagos recently, urged shippers to utilize maritime lawyers to assist them in recovering their lost goods.

He stressed that there was need for importers to seek legal advice from maritime lawyers in reviewing their contracts in order to protect them as well as their cargoes.

“Maritime lawyers can also assist shippers to claim their goods many years after they have been lost, provided proper documentation was made available by the shippers,” he said.

“Many stakeholders do not explore the judicial process for their claims because of cost and time and so they rather forgo their claims altogether.”

Akabogu said that no claim was too small, adding that some shippers considered that some claims were not big enough for the efforts.