MWUN says dockworkers not involved in cargo pilfering, demands biometric identification
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has said that dockworkers could not be involved in cargo stealing, just as it used the opportunity to request for issuance of a biometric identification card to all registered dockworkers.
The President-General of the Union, Mr. Adewale Adeyanju, made the denial in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.
Adeyanju said recently, the social media had been flooded with reports of stealing of cargoes in Nigeria’s seaports.
“The national secretariat of our union is now being inundated with the same report of alleged pilfering, stealing of cargoes in our sea ports by some scoundrels erroneously believed to
be dockworkers.
be dockworkers.
“This misconception stemmed from the fact that Biometric Identity Card (BID) which should have differentiated and distinguished core dockworkers from miscreants that daily troop into the ports
have not been issued in spite of repeated demands by our union.
have not been issued in spite of repeated demands by our union.
“Pilfering, stealing and broaching of cargoes are criminal acts which no disciplined and responsible organisation should condone.
“Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, being a disciplined and responsible union, has zero tolerance for any form of criminality as its constitution loathes same,” he said.
Adeyanju argued that the dockworker today would not risk the benefits he gets from the terminals where he works by getting involved in cargo pilfering.
He said: “We (the union), in all ramifications, are against this evil act, and as such, call on the security agencies operating in the ports especially the Nigerian Ports Police as well as the terminal
operators security personnel to put in place tight security measures to tackle this menace.
operators security personnel to put in place tight security measures to tackle this menace.
“The menace is capable of damaging the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations.
“We also advise that whoever is caught in this criminal act should not be spared but be visited with the full weight of the law, no matter how highly-placed.”
It would be recalled that the President General had sometime in October gave an ultimatum to units of the union to flush out all unregistered dockworkers from the nation’s ports.
The initiative was to ensure that only genuine members of the union had access into the terminals where they work.
