The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has raised the alarm over the trending activities of ‘courier operators’ ferrying dangerous weapons and illicit drugs in the country.
The service also expressed concerns over the proliferation and infiltration of illegal courier operators and logistics companies across the major cities of the nation, reports The Nation.
Speaking during a stakeholder’s engagement held on Friday in Akure, General Manager of NIPOST’s Courier and Logistics Regulations Department in Ondo, Oludotun Sounde, revealed that the agency recently sealed off two illegal courier companies in Ondo state and confiscated motorcycles used by three others in recent raids.
Sounde explained that the activities of the illegal courier companies were now posing a threat to national security and the economy.
He lamented that many of the courier operators always worked out of car parks and private offices before luring unsuspecting Nigerians with ridiculously low prices.
Sounde observed that the unlicensed courier services and companies are not only lacking the structure for safe delivery but also operating without any form of accountability.
“They’re 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 said
Describing the development as a “national red flag” that should not be ignored, he said every parcel handed over to an unlicensed courier could be a potential threat to national peace.
To address the challenges, Sounde posited that every courier operator in the country must obtain operational licence from the Postmaster- General to guide and streamline the operation of the logistics companies.
Sounde, however, appealed to the public to be wary of cheap, untraceable services, stressing that a properly regulated delivery system is key to safeguarding the nation’s security and fostering economic progress.
