The President General of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Comrade Prince Adewale Adeyanju has warned against invitation of external forces from within and outside Lagos State to unleash mayhem on truckers operating at the Lagos seaports by any of the collaborating associations as that would be counterproductive and may threaten the spirit and letters of the collaboration.
Adeyanju who gave this warning in a meeting held at the National Secretariat of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MWUN in Lagos by the three collaborating associations namely: National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO; Nexus Association of Maritime Transport Operators, NAMTOP and MWUN, observed member associations do not need external forces to have a good collaboration.
Citing an incident that happened at Tincan Island Port recently where some hoodlums were invited to the port to to attack innocent truckers carrying out their legitimate business at the port, the President General warned that the Union would not hesitate to pull out of the collaboration if hooliganism becomes part and parcel of the collaboration.
He said, “We have responsible workers that can support this collaboration, we don’t need external forces from Ijora, Idi-Oro, Akala, Mushin to come and support your aspirations. We don’t need that, the workers are equal to the task. I can sit down in my office and give signal not to load a truck if it has not paid our check off dues without bringing external forces. The law is very clear.
“And if we are collaborating, we are collaborating because of the attitude of some of the security agents attacking the investors, those are the businessmen, charging them unjustly by way of collecting N100,000, N50,000 per truck and that is why we said enough is enough. We are all Nigerians, you should allow people that have invested so much money and energy into trucking business to enjoy the dividend of their investment.
“And that is why Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria, we are not after anybody but our annoyance in this whole thing was as a result of incessant attack in the port. You want to do business and you are bringing forces to come and attack the port everyday and every time. About two years ago, we lost four or five of our members as a result of this collaboration coming from Lagos State Government. I am sure the authorities are aware, the representative of the CP port is here, he is aware,he handled the case. We lost five of our members as a result of bringing in external forces.
“What happened at Tincan Island was an eyesore, the police can testify to it. Gunshots were the order of the day and they were alleging the wrong people against responsible workers. If eventually one of the stray bullets entered a docker, what is going to happen? And even those ones that they butcher like animals, are they not human beings? We should respect ourselves.
“When you are introducing hooliganism into collaboration, it will never work. Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria will dissociate itself from that kind of collaboration where you are bringing in external forces from Oyo, Ibadan, Igboho, Mushin saying that you want to take over garages, port is not a garage, it is an international business frontier. All over the world, there is nothing like garage. You are not operating RTEAN, National Union of Road Transport Workers, we are operating international business.”
While decrying the role played by the Lagos State Transport and Cargo Committee, LASTCOC in the whole saga, he said, “For me, our Union is not against Lagos State Committee or whatever but due process must be followed. We are not against collaborating with them, we are not saying we are not going to work with them but due process must be followed in line with the rule of law that established the port.
“We should be very careful with the word Lagos State, we are not saying that Lagos State has no business being in the port, they have every right to do business but the law of this land must be followed. The port is a regulated area.”
While assuring the collaborating associations that there won’t be counter attack by the members of the MWUN, Adeyanju said, “I have appealed to dockworkers to allow peace to reign in this collaboration. There won’t be any attack, if you don’t bring attack from outside, the one inside will not support that attack and that was why I said, the man that is wearing three caps, I sympathize with you because people that were given positions , do you know them before? Do you know their antecedent? When you are making appointments, be very careful because the person you are going to appoint might be one of those people that are trouble shooters and we don’t need it in this collaboration.
“It is an appeal to the BOT, the executive of the three associations to withdraw all those external forces, we don’t need external forces to intervene in this collaboration. The moment we do that, the better for peace to reign in Tincan Island and Apapa. I want us to see today’s meeting as signalling the end of violence at Tincan Island as well as signal the end of crisis among ourselves. In line with the rules, we shall abide by it. The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria will continue to support this collaboration one hundred percent. We are not going to allow enemies to come and override the principle that joined all of us together.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, NAMTOP, Raheem Marouf recalled that the three associations started the collaboration journey since September last year when they studied the situation at the port which made it difficult for people to do business decently. He added that the outcome of the study was what led to the formation of the collaboration in order to make things easier for all Nigerians.
He alleged that some bad elements around the port corridors were causing trouble adding that they were coming from different locations to the port axis to come and cause confusion. Rumours have been coming up insinuating that either NARTO or Lagos State Committee are coming with guns to Tincan to come and challenge the people on ground. Rven some information came up that MWUN came with thugs to come and attack but we discovered after a lot of investigations, that all is false.
So, that is why we are addressing the whole world that we don’t have such a thing in our team. There’s no thuggery in MWUN, no thuggery in NARTO and no thuggery in NAMTOP. Even the Lagos set up committee, they only come to make things easier based on the instructions from NPA. But all this investigations have been done from the elders and we found out that there’s like that.
Others who took turns to address the meeting including the General Manager, NARTO, Mr. Stephen Okafor, the President, Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, Chief Remi Ogungbemi, Chairman NAMTOP and LASTCOC, Alhaji Lukman Shittu, a member of NAMTOP, Alhaji Ishola Salami and a former President, Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations, COMTUA, Otunba Thompson Olaleye emphasized the commitment of the collaborating associations to make the collaboration work and urged all concerned to work towards permanent peace for the good of the industry.
The Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police Command was represented at the parley by DSP Ahmed Ojo while the Port Manager, Tincan Island Port was also represented by the Principal Manager, Safety, NPA, Engr. Harlem Patrick. Highlight of the meeting was the setting up of a taskforce to ensure orderliness and strict adherence to the MoU by all the collaborating associations.
Photo 1: (L-R): Raheem Marouf, Chairman, Board of Trustees, NAMTOP, Comrade Prince Adewale Adeyanju, President General, MWUN and DSP Ahmed Ojo, representative of the Commissioner of Police, Ports Authority Police Command during the meeting at the MWUN National Secretariat in Lagos on Tuesday.
Photo 2: A cross section of the the newly appointed members of NAMTOP taskforce.
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