We lost so Many Seafarers to Piracy in 2018, Maritime Workers Union Laments

By ZION Olalekan

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has lamented that many seafarers died in 2018 due to the insecurity on Nigerian waters and the spike in activities of pirates and sea robbers.

President of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju stated this in a chat with newsmen in Lagos at the weekend.

Comrade Adeyanju also lamented that the dilapidated access roads to the nation’s seaports; Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port had caused many investors to abandon Nigeria for neighbouring ports.

The unionist appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that roads to the ports which have been a major challenge, especially the Tin Can Island Port access should be looked into.

He said there should be a palliative measure applied so that the investment that has ran away would come back.

Speaking, he said “Our expectation for 2019 is very high in the sense that, we pray that this year would be better than last year, we lost so many investors because of the bad road, now that the road is on the verge of completion, we pray goods things would happen this year”.

Speaking on the increasing level of piracy, Adeyanju commended the apex maritime regulatory agency; Nigeria Maritime Administrations and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for doing a good job so far in tackling piracy. He urged the agency to double its efforts in 2019.

“We have been having the security challenges for a couple of years but they are trying their best, but we want Government to strengthen them and empower them to do more.

“It has even reduced, because I could remember that last year, we lost so many seafarers and we lost so many investors as well as a result of piracy coming into our waters, now what we need to do is pray that this year would be better than last year”.

He said that Safety kits for dockworkers had improved, noting that kitting of dockworkers was part of the CBA agreement recently signed by the union, NIMASA and terminal operators.