DRUG WAR AT PORT : Maritime Workers Advocates NDLEA’s  Participation In Cargo Examination

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has advocated for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to participate in cargo examination at the nation’s seaports as part of efforts to curb drug peddling and trafficking in Nigeria.

 

The union said NDLEA inclusion alongside operative of the Nigeria Customs Service will further reduced the rate of importation and proper cargo examination of such consignment at the ports.

 

According to the Deputy Organising Secretary,  MWUN,Comrade Abdul Eroje, who stated this at the Second Edition of JournalNG’s Industry Town Hall Meeting with the theme: ‘Towards a Drug Free Port Environment’, fingered the porous nature of the security structure in the ports, jetties, and terminals as another factor contributing to the rise of drug trafficking in the country.

 

Eroje said the union will continue to sensitize labour workers and members to desist from any form of connivance with the drug syndicate adding that the MWUN will continue to collaborate with NDLEA.

 

Earlier the President General MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju,  called on the Federal Government to immediately restore onboard gangway men to help check the importation of hard drugs into the country through its seaports.

 

Adeyanju said the failure of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to issue biometric Identity Cards to dockworkers after years of asking has also contributed to drug peddling in and around the ports.

 

 

He said: “There is need for strict security checks at the port. Things are no longer how it used to be. Onboard gangway men need to be brought back to help check the activities of drug traffickers.

 

“NIMASA needs to issue Biometric ID cards to dockworkers to help enhance security in the ports. Once the biometric IDs are issued, those carrying out unlawful businesses in the ports can be easily identified and dealt with accordingly.

 

“Drugs do not get into the country without the involvement and help of some collaborators inside the ports. MWUN should not be tagged as responsible for all illicit drugs coming into the country.

 

“Other agencies and individuals are complicit by not discharging their duties adequately. Some people are given bribe to look the other way. To end this scourge, all hands must be on deck; it is the responsibility of everyone”.

 

Adeyanju stated that the Union has zero tolerance for illicit drug peddlers and any member found culpable automatically ceases to be a part of MWUN.

 

Speaking further on the Union’s efforts at ensuring maritime workers’ compliance with drug laws and crime prevention in the ports, he said it has held several press conferences to sensitise members and the general public on the dangers of illicit drug use and what its trafficking portend to the society and its development.

 

Adeyanju revealed that the union has reached out to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to collaborate and further assist the anti-narcotic agency in its efforts to block the drugs from coming into the country, especially through the ports.

 

The Union boss continued: “To further push home this stand, MWUN has concluded a plan to undertake a public sensitization program which will draw attention to the harm of illicit drug trafficking.

 

“The program will kick start from Lagos ports and will be taken to all ports and terminals in the nation. We expect to involve all stakeholders and well meaning port users and even our international affiliate-International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). At MWUN, we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that we join hands with our security infrastructure.

 

“We affirm our conviction to keep the flag of zero tolerance to drug peddling and use on our front burner and to sustainably consolidate our credibility and build the Port we want, we must therefore move from a catalog of good intentions and collectively step up responses to cope with these challenges, it is our hope that this plan of action will redirect our efforts towards addressing the Drug peddling problem in our ports.

 

“Indeed, drug trafficking represents a major challenge for Nigeria and port users/operators. World drug report 2021 clearly shows that there is much work to be done to confront the many harms inflicted by illicit drugs to health, development, peace and security, in all regions of the world an estimated quarter of a billion people, or around 5% of the global adult population, used drugs at least once.

 

“In response to this challenge, maritime workers union of Nigeria has reached out to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with a view to jointly building one of the strongest counter-narcotics enforcement capacities for and around our ports: On which note I wish to especially thank the Buba Marwa led NDLEA for doing yore-man’s job of curtailing drug trafficking in our ports.

 

“I also would quickly seize this opportunity to extend our hand of fellowship to the NDLEA for a collaborative alliance that will seek to stem the distribution and trafficking of illicit drugs through our ports.

 

“We were recently in a town hall meeting with members of the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) which had in attendance all our shop floor stewards starting from officers from the Units through the Districts and to the branch and national.

 

“At that interactive meeting, the Union informed all and sundry that it had zero tolerance for illicit drug peddlers and therefore will not condone the act if any member is found culpable, pronouncing that such member automatically loses membership of the union”.

 

Adeyanju thanked JournalNG for organising the event which he described as timely, considering the various scenario of increased incidences of seizure of illicit drugs and the subsequent arrest of some persons believed to have connived, planned, and participated in trafficking drugs through the ports.