The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called for increased policing of all port terminals in Nigeria following fresh allegations of cargo pilfering, otherwise labelled as ‘Wharf Rats’, at the ports.
According to a statement signed on Thursday in Lagos by the President-General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju: “Recently, the social media was awash with reports of stealing and broaching of cargoes in our Sea Ports by some miscreants.
“The National Secretariat of MWUN is now being inundated with the same report of alleged pilfering, stealing and broaching of cargoes in our seaports by some scoundrels erroneously believed to be Dockworkers.
“This erroneous misconception stemmed from the fact that Bio-metric Identity card (BID) which should have differentiated and distinguished the core Dockworkers from the miscreants that troop into the ports on a daily basis have not been issued in spite of repeated demands by our Union.
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“Pilfering, stealing and broaching of cargoes are criminal acts which no disciplined and responsible organisation should condole. Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, being a disciplined and responsible Union has zero-tolerance for any form of criminality as its Constitution loathes same.
“The Dockworkers of today are refined +individuals who would not risk their robust terminal benefits by engaging in broaching of cargoes. They know the sanctions that await any authentic Dockworker caught in any criminal act.
“We (the Union) 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 which 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.”
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