Truckers under the aegis of Council of Maritime Truck Unions and Associations (COMTUA), have raised alarm that more than 16 drivers died last year as a result of stress associated with several weeks in traffic into Lagos ports.
The Head of Operations of COMTUA, Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa who said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, explained that the drivers’ death came as result of stress and the unhealthy condition under which they stay in traffic.
He disclosed that the association is putting a health insurance package together for its drivers to ensure that issues of untimely deaths o not occur again.
“You know last year we lost about 16 drivers on queue and stress, but since the new task force started, no driver will ever say that the taskforce has molested him. The association has been trying, there is an arrangement trying to see that we have welfare for our drivers.
Before now, like my association in the wet cargo we had insurance scheme for our drivers, but the dry cargo because of multiple associations and unions it became difficult for us to have such. But under this body it has been in our action plan to set a welfare scheme for our drivers and we have done that”
He also disclosed that plans are in top gear to unveil health insurance scheme for truck drivers.
Inuwa however fingered unity of truckers as one of the major challenges encountered by the new association before it was finally formed.
“The challenges of the new association have been how we can come together and as a matter of fact we have come together and what you are seeing in the area of the traffic management is as a result of the new association”
“We wrote a protest letter to the presidency as against the nefarious activities of the former task force where our drivers have been subjected to corporal punishments, smashing of windscreen and all that”, he told our correspondent.
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