Maritime Workers Behind Attacks on Berthed Vessels– Union Leader

Tayo Oladipupo I

Disgruntled maritime workers, especially those who have lost their jobs, have been identified as those behind incessant attacks on vessels at berth.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) raised alarm on the development at a stakeholders forum held recently at Apapa.

However, the President General of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Aseyanju has declared that the incessant attacks on berthed vessels in Apapa port may not be unconnected with people who lost their jobs or unscrupulous workers who aid and abet such crimes.

The union, in it’s quest to rid the port of such anomalies and to improve security in the port, has engaged in strategic collaboration with the terminal operators and government agencies.
Adeyanju yielded to the allegation that some unscrupulous workers at the facilities may have compromised the security to create an opportunity for those vessels to be attacked at berth by hoodlums.
He however lamented that the union had been uncomfortable about the attacks on vessels at berths and has put in place measures by serving a notice of warning to members of the union working at the terminals.
He used the occasion to call on members of the union operating at the terminals to be vigilant and support the security operatives in the respective terminals.
His words, “The tally clerks and onboard security form an integral part of dockworkers. We no longer have gangway men aboard anymore. What we are experiencing now might be the attitude of those who don’t have jobs again.
“The pirates can just sneak in and perpetrate any form of evil and that is the position of things at the moment. However, we are not comfortable and that is why we took the pain by serving a notice of warning to all our members that any particular area we find out that there is piracy or stowaway on- board a vessel, then the executives will be suspended according to the constitution of the union”, he reiterated.
The MWUN boss maintained that outsiders could not perpetrate such heinous crimes without people in the facilities that gave them information saying it would be difficult for such people to intrude into the facilities.
Recall that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has promised to nip the menace in the bud by acquiring more security patrol boats to monitor the area and apprehend the offenders.
Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman said such strategy will put paid to the problem.