Illegal courier, logistics operators ferry weapons, drugs across Nigeria, says postal service

The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has disclosed that unlicensed courier operators, logistics companies engaged in criminal activities of moving dangerous weapons and illicit drugs across the country.

Penpushing reports that General Manager of Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) Courier and Logistics Regulations Department in Ondo, Oludotun Sounde, raised the alarm at a stakeholders’ engagement held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The General Manager emphasised that the illegal activities potentially threaten national peace, security and economy across major cities and the country, lamenting that many courier operators always worked out of car parks and private offices before luring unsuspecting Nigerians with ridiculously low prices.

Penpushing further reports that he observed that the unlicensed courier services and companies lack the structure for safe delivery and operate without any form of accountability.

“They are putting customers at risk of loss, theft, or abuse of their parcels. Using an illegal courier service is like going to a quack doctor. It could also cost you dearly. One of the unlicensed operators was recently arrested for conveying firearms and hard drugs’, he added

Penpushing also reports that Sounde described the development as a national red flag that should not be ignored, pointing out that every parcel handed over to an unlicensed courier could potentially threaten national peace.

The General Manager disclosed that Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) sealed off two illegal courier companies in Ondo state and confiscated motorcycles used by three others in recent raids.

Penpushing reports that he recommended that every courier operator in the country should obtain operational licences from the postmaster general to guide and streamline the operation of the logistics companies.

The agency boss said the establishment is prepared to support registered businesses with training and professional guidance, even as he reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to sanitising the logistics sector,

Penpushing further reports that he described the agency as a critical national infrastructure linking communities and facilitating secure communication, urging both existing and aspiring operators to register officially via NIPOST’s website or at any nearby post office.

Meanwhile, Sounde led a similar clampdown in Kaduna last year, in May, when the agency shut down several unlicensed courier operators, while many offices of the affected courier express services, delivery, dispatch services, and logistics services were sealed during the enforcement exercise.

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