Seaports in Nigeria may be shut down on Wednesday as dock workers threatened to GO on strike over the arrest and detention of their colleagues in Rivers State by Governor Nyesom Wike.
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria on Monday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to shut down operation if Wike refused to free the detained maritime workers alleged to have violated the state’s COVID-19 lockdown order.
Though the nation’s airports were closed to commercial operations, the federal government said the ports remain open to trade to facilitate importation and delivery of essential goods, such as foods and medical
supplies.
But Rivers had announced its own restrictions meant to contain the spread of COVID-19.
However, MWUN maintained that being essential service providers, the dock workers must be allowed to work at all seaports in the country, especially as most seaports are under the ownership and control of the federal government.
“We wish to use this medium to state that if in the next 48 hours starting from Monday 11 May 2020, nothing is done to effect the release of our members, the union will have no option but to withdraw our services in the entire nation’s seaport, terminals, and jetties in solidarity with our detained members as an injury to one is an injury to all.
“We were informed that the affected dock workers were returning from essential service operations to BUA/PTOL terminal, Port Harcourt, and were unlawfully and forcibly arrested and detained by Rivers State Taskforce on enforcing COVID-19 lockdown,” the union said in a statement by its President-General, Adewale Adeyanju.
