Joshua Yousouph
Checks by Shipping Position Daily have revealed that there is still a high presence of members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) extorting truckers along the port access road, despite the official ban on their activities by the Lagos State Government.
Recall that, the Lagos State Government recently announced the suspension of the activities of the NURTW from motor parks with immediate effect following the crisis between the state chapter and the national body.
However, it has been discovered that members of the Union still operate on the roads leading to Lagos ports.
Some concerned stakeholders have argued that, the NURTW in Lagos have only changed the nomenclature by operating under the guise and aegis of the Lagos State Government Park Authority, while some operate in mufti and still stop truck drivers on the highways.
Corroborating the findings of Shipping Position Daily, Mr. Collins Dike, a truck owner lamented how some alleged members of the NURTW at Sodiq Junction around Kirikiri area in Apapa, vandalized the windscreen of one of his trucks last week.
With evidence of video clips and pictures, it was discovered that members of the Union have dropped their white and green uniforms and are now dressed in Yellow working under the aegis of Lagos State Government Park Authority, and are extorting truckers and drivers on the port access roads along Mile 2 area. But, the President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO); Chief Oluremi Ogungbemi told our correspondent last week that the NURTW ban by the state government is a welcome development and a good omen to haulage operators. He argued that NURTW has no business with haulage operators.
Ogungbemi however stated that the problem of extortion being experienced on the port access roads is due to the forced marriage between NURTW and some other maritime associations.
“We are not in the same business with NURTW. To the best of my knowledge, they are into commuters who carry passengers from one place to another and not haulage. As a maritime association, we are exclusively for trucking operations in the maritime industry. So in as much as I would not like to dabble into the affairs of NURTW, or RTEAN, I would say there was a forced marriage between these associations and some maritime associations. These maritime associations went to align with NURTW and RTEAN for reasons best known to them. I would say it is all a way to use them to achieve their personal and selfish interests.
On the NURTW, he alleged that, “they are everywhere. They may not wear their green and white uniform, but they are everywhere collecting and extorting money. I also want to state that it is not only NURTW. There are other unions like RTEAN also collecting money from truckers”.
He however stressed that, “the ban is a welcome development. The ban by the state government is a good omen to us, because they have been extorting us despite the fact that we are not under their jurisdiction. I am blaming those that invited them initially into the sector”.
On his part, the National President for the Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA), Mr. Adeyinka Aroyewun noted that the entire scenario of the activities of NURTW should not be judged on the premise of illegality and extortion. He said the sledgehammer which the government is hitting on NURTW is a bit hard, adding that the ban was a result of some rivalries and rancour in the Union.
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Aroyewun stated that extortion and other illegalities on the port access roads are not limited to only members of the NURTW, but particularly members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN). He however called on the Lagos State government to buckle up in ensuring that the issues are addressed in a more civil way.
Defending COMTUA’s relationship with the NURTW, he said: “We cannot judge the entire scenario to be an illegality. The extortion on the roads and illegal collection is illegal and we condemn that. But the duty of the existence of the association is not premised on that. There is freedom of association and their rights should not be affected by the decision of legal activities of the field. In the maritime industry where we are, the NURTW are the workers in the transport sector. They are the drivers, managers, conductors, and the likes. Therefore, they are members of our collaboration and in view of this, what concerns them concerns us in the interest of our collaboration”.
He however said that, “anyone extorting people on the road is perpetuating illegality and the law must take its cause on that. We cannot mention that as the weakness of NURTW, it is the security apparatus of the state that has led to all of these. There is freedom of association and NURTW has the right to associate. If there are issues, there should be internal mechanisms to adopt in this matter”.
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