•As founders alert security agencies, other stakeholders

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, and four other founding groups that formed the Council of Maritime Truck Associations and Unions, COMTUA, have disbanded the body and declared it illegal forthwith.

The other founding groups were Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria, COTOAN, and Amalgamation of Containers Truck Owners Association of Nigeria, ACTOAN.

The seven unions and associations, have already intimated security agencies and stakeholders in the Maritime sector of the disbandment, noting that “whoever that does any business in the name of COMTUA, does so illegally and should be arrested.”

Recall that COMTUA was established in 2019 by the seven unions and associations operating in the ports to aid free flow of traffic and fight the unending Apapa gridlock.

At a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signing off COMTUA at NARTO’s Secretariat in Lagos, the founding groups informed that it became necessary to disband COMTUA because it had outlived its usefulness.

They warned that nobody should relate with COMTUA any further under any guise, declaring “whoever parades himself as executive of the body should be treated as an impostor and subsequently arrested.”

Speaking at the sign-off ceremony, COMTUA founding President, Thomson Olaleye, said the body ceased to exist with effect from 31st July, 2023.

According to him, “Consequently,  the freedom to associate, under which COMTUA was formed, has ceased upon the termination of the MoU and the body hitherto called COMTUA has died with effect from the day the consenting parties signed it off.

“Our meeting today is to let the whole world know that there is nothing like COMTUA anymore, and whoever still parades himself or any group of people claiming to be COMTUA is illegally doing so.

“We are today, notifying all Government agencies , including security agencies to be aware, take note and stop dealing with anyone who still parades in such capacity.

“We specifically call on relevant arm of security agencies to arrest and deal with any such person decisively.”

Collaborating, President General of MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju who was the first joint Board of Trustees Chairman, said MWUN would now go to sleep with two eyes closed following the dissolution of COMTUA.

According to him, COMTUA had achieved the purpose of its creation and nevertheless, “MWUN will continue to have the interest of the port industry at heart. We at MWUN congratulate all the various groups for their support during the existence of COMTUA.”

Explaining  why the body was collapsed, Olaleye said “There is no doubt that, COMTUA contributed its quota to the enthronement of orderliness in vehicular traffic in Apapa”, among others.

He lamented that the derailment of the last executive eight months after its inauguration prompted withdrawal of some prominent members including MWUN and NARTO.