The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has suspended the Electronic Call-up for trucks (ETO) for cargoes bound for the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) in Apapa.
This follows the disruption of operations at the terminal due to protest by members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) against the management of APMT.
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NPA, in a series of tweets by NPA on its official Twitter handle on Thursday, said while it is working towards resolving the dispute between both parties, APMT will not receive or exit cargoes for the next 24 hours.
“The authority hereby urges stakeholders to please take note, as ETO tickets will not be issued to APMT bound cargoes.”
President-General of MWUN, Mr Adewale Adeyanju, said the grounding of activities at the terminal is due to the expiration of the one-week-plus notice given to the management of the terminal to adhere to the laws of the land.
The workers at the terminal side of the Lagos Ports Complex were protesting what they said was the breaching of the National Joint Industrial Agreement (NJIC) signed by APMT. They also said APMT has constantly employed foreigners on a job Nigerians can do.
The action crippled commercial activities at the seaport as they refused to open the gate to the terminal.
But the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, swiftly waded into the dispute. It was learnt that a peace meeting between the parties at the instance of the NPA however deadlocked as the protest continued yesterday. The meeting however continued.
Attempts to get APMT management to respond were not successful as our correspondent was barred from entering the terminal. The spokesman of Ship and Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN),Bolaji Ajibola, could also not be reached on phone as he was said to be in a meeting.
