Police to prosecute over 500 illegal courier operators, including Delivery, Dispatch and Logistics operators for not obtaining operating licences from the Nigerian Postal Service.

Dotun Shonde, the General Manager of the team from the Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department of NIPOST, revealed this on Tuesday during the clampdown on illegal courier and logistics operators in Ilorin Kwara state.

It was gathered that over 200 identified operators performing courier services in different parts of the state without licences eere arrested, while motorbikes used for the operations were impounded.

Dotun Shonde told the Punch that the Courier and Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD) team had visited many states to enforce NIPOST Act, adding that many of the operators of the courier services in the state were operating illegally without registration with NIPOST, which is the government regulatory agency for such services.

“Similar enforcement activities have been successfully conducted in Rivers, Edo, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, FCT, Katsina, Niger, Ekiti and Kwara States.”

Shonde stated that courier and logistics operators were required to register and obtain operating licences from the Federal Government, which were in four categories: state/special SMEs, regional, national and international.

The general manager, who cited that NIPOST had saddled the CLRD with the responsibility of regulating courier and logistics operators, said, “It had begun the clampdown operations on unlicensed/illegal courier, express delivery, dispatch and logistics operators nationwide as stipulated in the statutory provisions of section 43(1,2&3) NIPOST ACT, CAP 127 law of the federation 2004 and Regulatory Operational Guidelines 2020.”