By Kenneth Jukpor
Normalcy has been restored at the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) with the reopening of Joatelim Terminal after it was shutdown for one week following the demise of a freight agent, Kennedy Ikechukwu.
The terminal located at Kirikiri phase 1 was shutdown on Tuesday last week after Kennedy Ikechukwu died inside the terminal.
According to the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Kiriki Chapter, Comrade Goody Sewa Soleji, the terminal operator paid N6.5million as compensation to the deceased family, while N1.5million was paid for burial process, amounting to N8million.
Soleji noted that the terminal has equally started meeting some of the demands made by the agents last week, some of which includes, automation of the terminal.
Recall that the deceased Kennedy Ikechukwu died when he went to position his container for examination inside the terminal due manual operation, lack of efficiency and manpower on the part of the management.
In the process, a crane had knocked down Ikechukwu and climbed on him, thereby leading to his death.
Soleji said: “Joatelim Terminal at Kirikiri Phase 1 has been reopened yesterday (Monday), and operations has since commenced. The terminal was reopened at 9am on Monday.”
“They have swung into action by putting certain things in place, when we went to inspect the terminal yesterday, we discovered that, based on the letter we wrote them and our demands; they said they now have an operational van, though am yet to see it, secondly, they assured they would get the Ambulance by 15th of February”
“In a letter they wrote to us, they said they have engaged more personnel, and that the bad eggs among their staff have been fired. There is now a new order in the terminal. What we noticed was that before now, there was only one entrance and exit into the terminal, but now, they have created a separate gate for exit.”
“As for the flooring of the terminal, they promised that this would be achieved later. We are aware that they cannot meet all our demands within one week, we are not against that, what we are against is them neglecting their duties. I wish they had listened to us last year when we wrote first, second and third letters to them, maybe the accident that occurred would have been avoided”
Speaking on the settlement that was made with family of the deceased, Comrade Soleji said ANLCA was never a part of the negotiation, and that it was done between the family of the deceased and the terminal operators.
He, however, stressed that no amount of money would bring back the deceased, adding that the terminal should adopt best standards and practices to ensure such unpleasant occurrence doesn’t happen again.
In terms of losses due to storage charges, he stated that no loss was recorded because the terminal has waived storage charges for the period during the shutdown.
Kennedy Ikechukwu, popularly known as Skiibo was a 46-year old bachelor from Owerri in Imo State.
