Davies Ben Chukwunenye, ANLCA MMAC chapter vice chairman.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The imbroglio occasioned by the desire of the national president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANCLA) to impose his choice candidate as chairman of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Command chapter seems not to be ebbing. The Vice Chairman of the chapter, Davies Ben Chukwunenye a few days back gave this medium an insight into the cause of all the shenanigans. That interview may not have been received kindly by the national executive committee members and there are indications that some reactions are happening.
Rumours making the rounds have it that the national president of the association has petitioned the commissioner of police at the Airport saying that there was an agreement by the warring parties that the current chairman of the Airport chapter, Mr. Adejare Adewusi Bamgbala steps down for Mr. Temitope Akindele. We met with Mr. Chukwunenye again to clarify issues about the rumour. We present the interview below.
Question: Sir, over the past few days, there has been this rumour that your people had an agreement with the National Executive of ANLCA to resolve the issue of the deadlock between your chapter and the national executive committee members. Give us the details about the said agreement that was purported to have been held between you and the National Executive Committee Members?
Answer: Well, there was in fact a meeting where my chairman, Adejare Bamgbala, Bola Ashiru Balogun and Temitope Akindele met to talk, Taiwo Mustafa with the national president of ANLCA and some other members were also there. The meeting held on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. Then, I think that the three gladiators sought the President’s audience for them to have a closed door meeting outside the Airport and which which was obliged by the national president. From my findings and all that happened, they actually discussed, but the President only succeeded in giving out a proposal that he asked Bola Ashiru and Adewusi Bamgbala to go and look into, maybe report back in a month’s time and come up with something. And that was how the meeting ended.
Question: So in essence, you are saying that there was no agreement whatsoever, written or verbal?
Answer: Certainly there was no written agreement and we all know the procedure when a court is involved and an order has been given. There is a subsisting order on this matter, and if there is any agreement, the signature of the parties will be appended to that document. The document will certainly be sent to court for consent that will enable the court to be able to vacate that order. So it is not a verbal thing. Nobody has the power to write any letter without going through the court for consent. So they popped up, reported a letter of agreement, no, I do not know where that one is originating from, but there was no agreement,
Mr. Davies Ben Chukwunenye, the MMAC chapter vice chairman of ANLCA.
Question: It was said that the national president went to the police authorities to show them such a letter. What is your reaction to the action of the national president?
Answer: Well, I can’t say for certain that this information is true, but even if it is true, we know the capacity of the Commissioner of Police at the Airport who is a man that is always holding the law so dear to his heart. I know definitely that he will do nothing that will tarnish his image. He has proven to be a man that is always standing by the truth, as far as he is concerned, I don’t think that anybody with any purported letter can change his position. He is standing by the court order and he has made it clear to all the parties that until a contrary order is brought to him, this subsisting one remains, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. So we trust and have confidence in his ability to handle the situation.
Question: So sir, what message are you sending to people? Is it to disregard the rumours?
Answer: Well, the first message will be for the the security agencies at the airport. You see we are all Nigerians and we cannot continue with this high level of impunity. I thank God for the crop of men that are at the helms of affairs at the airport. They know what is right, they know what to do at any given time and I think, in fact, that they should ignore whatever game that is being played and be focused. This matter is a very big test for them and I don’t think they will fall short of the expectations.
To the members of the association, yeah, they should be steadfast. We are not fighting for our own private interests. We are fighting for the interest of every member of one big family at the airport chapter. If we allow this illegality you know what will happen, it will be a big slap on every member of our chapter and we have so far, those who are clamouring to be chairmen. The main man that is clamouring to be the chairman at the airport chapter, that same man is telling the federal airport authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that they can seal up the place. That will show you the kind of interest they are protecting. You know, this is an issue that is worrisome. It is worrisome because even outsiders who have no stake at the airport chapter are now interfering in our activities just because Mister Akindele has brought them to try and take over the airport chapter. He is now telling FAAN that they should seal the place so that they can equally take the place over.
This is wrong, it is wrong. They are doing that because they have no stake at the airport chapter and If anything happens to that Secretariat, those of us at the airport chapter now will bear the brunt. These people will go back to their chapters and we all know how they have fought and kept their chapters in very useless conditions, places where nobody obeys any instruction from them. There are so many crises that they have generated in their chapters and all the while, they have been fighting to establish such crisis at the airport chapter. If not for God and our resistance, it would have more terrible, we are saying that we should stand up against parallel government at the airport chapter. The airport chapter is one big family and our tenure is still running by God’s grace. We shall exit from our position on the 14th of January, 2026.
Mr. Chukwunenye concluded.
The oldest Customs Licensed Agents Association (ANLCA) in Nigeria seems to have been perpetually in the woods and the problems therein intractable. Observers are hoping that ANLCA will have some grown ups within the ranks of the association call all factions to order, but it is all looking like a tall order as it is.
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