…Petitions NPA, threatens strike if members are attacked

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has raised the alarm over planned invasion and attack on Lagos ports.

In a petition to the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, MWUN, claimed the unnamed groups and individuals also planned to attack legitimate ports users including workers and truck drivers along the ports’ access roads.

In the petition dated August 18, 2023, by its Deputy Secretary General, Oniha Erazua, on behalf of the Union’s Secretary General, Felix Akingboye, MWUN urged NPA to strengthen security in and around the ports including access roads to prevent any attack and protect innocent lives.

The Union threatened to down tools and shutdown all ports activities across the country including terminals and jetties if its members are attacked.

MWUN however lauded the NPA’s Managing Director for his responsiveness and disposition towards ensuring the safety of illegitimate port users including workers.

The petition reads among others, “We are grateful for the timely manner in which the Nigerian Ports Authority has taken up the case of MWUN and moved to ensure that our members are protected from violent intruders who are working under illegitimate and unsanctioned mandate to extort money from port users as well as truck drivers and other such haulage workers plying the port access roads.

“We are constrained to inform you of new threat posed by same violent intruders masquerading as legitimate port users who we are reliably informed have perfected plans to invade the ports are and unleash mayhem. We also have it on reliable information that these are the same people who violently attacked and killed four of our members under the guise of ticket fee collection in 2022.

“We wish to state that ports are under the exclusive purview and management of the Federal Government of Nigeria and also exclusive economic zone under the direct control fo the Federal Government through the Nigerian Porst Authority. Therefore, its premises and immediate environs are regarded as strictly regulated business area with adequate security for the protection of lives and property.

“Flowing from the above, a port ought not to be receptive to anyone who has no legitimate business to do there. It is therefore will be a breach of standard if for laxity some groups or individuals with sinister motives are allowed to have unfettered or uncontrolled access to the port and indeed the port access roads.

“It is in line with the foregoing that we urgently request a further strengthening of security at the ports and on the ports’ access roads to ensure that the entire axis is made safe and conducive for work and legitimate business.

“The continued and growing threat of violent attacks in the ports and on the access roads portends a breakdown of order at an establishment which should ordinarily be a safe haven for legitimate businesses and workers to carry out their activities.

As social partners in the development of port business, the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria applied utmost caution in its reaction to the previous senseless attack and killing of our members in our own work environment. We did this because we believe in law and order, and we placed our hopes for justice on the law enforcement agencies to see the matter to its logical and just conclusion and did not take the matter into our own hands.

“It is on this note we wish to unequivocally state that MWUN shall no longer condone any act of violent attack on its members henceforth as any such attack will lead to the withdrawal of services of our members from al ports, jetties, terminals, and oil and gas platforms nationwide.”