COCAINE IMPORTATION: MWUN Tackles NDLEA Over Allegations Levelled Against Dockworkers

By Roland Ekama

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has frowned at allegations levelled against dockworkers by the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in connection to the arrest of some persons linked to hard drug importation to Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

A statement on Friday, e-signed by
Comrade John Kennedy Ikemefuna, Head of Media, MWUN expressed dismay over the publication by NDLEA accusing dockers of their involvement in the said hard drug imports.

The statement reiterated that Falowo Samuel Kayode is not a dockworker and he is not a member of the union, stating that he is a staff of Five Star Logistics Terminal .

According to the statement “The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) under the leadership of Comrade (Prince) Dr. Adewale Adeyanju, fnli HFCPSP read with dismay the above captioned On-line publications, the prints and some other sections of the press of Sunday 25th February, 2024 reporting that the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested one Falowo Samuel Kayode – a Dockworker alongside other culprits in connection with two seized containers with Nos. MSCU 4581770 and TRHU 7968071 laded with 56.39kg of Cocaine and 795kg of Colorado respectively.

The Maritime Workers Union wish to draw the attention of the NDLEA that the said arrested Falowo Samuel Kayode is a staff of Five Star Logistics Terminal and NOT a member of the Dockworkers Branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria; hence, the Union wants to clear the air that Falowo Samuel Kayode is not in anyway a Dockworker under the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria as against the various reportage by some quarters of the press.

The Union also wants to correct this erroneous publications and broadcasts by the media that the said arrested Falowo Samuel Kayode should NOT be associated with the name of this great Union, which had since been on the vigorous campaign against the peddling of Hard Drugs within the Ports and its environs, as indulging in such acts would be detrimental to the image of the country amongst the comity of maritime nations.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) had taken its campaign across all the ports formations nationwide sensitizing its members on the need not to involve themselves in the dealings of narcotics in any form.

“The Union had also warmed that members must not engage themselves with importers, barons, and clearing agents over the handling and discharge of narcotics at the ports; and that any member(s) found wanting in the cases of narcotics ceases to be member of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.”

Recall that operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, claimed to have unmask members of an organized criminal network behind the recent importation of two containers laden with illicit drugs as well as assorted arms and ammunition from Durban, South Africa to Tin can seaport in Lagos.

NDLEA claimed that among those already arrested as members of the syndicate are: a clearing and notify party of the two containers, Falowo Samuel Kayode; a dock worker, Anjorin Idowu and Uzairu Ahmed Iguda who is in charge of the Five Star terminal at the port. Another dock worker at the terminal, Mohammed Muktar Sule (alias organizer) who is equally linked to the syndicate is currently at large.

Based on credible intelligence, the Agency had requested for a 100 percent joint examination of two containers marked MSCU 4581770 and TRHU 7968071 from South Africa. As a result, the exercise was conducted with other stakeholders on 18th and 19th of January, 2024 during which 56.39kg cocaine and 795kg Colorado, a synthetic strong strain of cannabis among other illegal items were recovered from the containers.