News: Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to Sack 3,500 Dockworkers

LAGOS - WORKERS in the nation's ports, yesterday, protested against plan by the management of Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to sack no fewer than 3,500 dockworkers, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to call NPA to order to avoid industrial unrest.

The protest, which took place simultaneously in Lagos, Warri, Calabar, Onne, and Port Harcourt, was peaceful, but the workers threatened that should the NPA go ahead to sack the Tally Clerks and Onboard Security men, the nation’s ports would be shut until they were recalled.

It was gathered that operations at all terminals in Lagos were shut as early as 7 am till after 11 am before normalcy returned.

In Warri, the protesters picketed the Warri ports, disrupting operations momentarily to draw attention of relevant stakeholders to their grievances.

They accused the management of NPA of planning to use cargoes surveyors, which it allegedly brought into the ports through the back doors, to take over the jobs of tally clerks and onboard security men, but had been claiming that President Buhari directed it to reduce the workforce in the ports.

Addressing the protesters in Lagos, Deputy General Secretary, Organisation, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Mr. Abdullahi Eroje, said: “The protest is all about the plan by the management of NPA, through the Managing Director, Habib Abdullahi, to sack 3, 500 dockworkers and he is dropping the name of President Muhammadu Buhari.

"We have been on this matter since December 15, 2015. All efforts by the union to dialogue with the government, even to meet with the Minister of Transport, have failed. Joseph Adebri, member, national Board of Trust of MWUN, and Godfrey Apocha, Warri chapter executive of the union, who spoke for the demonstrators, noted that the move by government was ill-advised and would spell hardship for dockworkers, their families and further strangulate the nation’s economy."

Reacting to the development, Ports Manager at Warri Port, Umar Abubakar Garba, said the concern by the union was nationwide, adding that the authorities were already in talks with the aggrieved parties to resolve the issues.

Source: Vanguard