The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and its sister associations insist that the Council of Maritime Truck Unions (COMTUA) remains an illegal entity that had ceased to exist since 2023, hence it is not recognised by the Maritime Trucking Unions
By Edu Abade
The Council of Maritime Truck Unions (COMTUA) and its members are not recognised to operate in the nation’s maritime and shipping business sector, this is the official stand of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), hence COMTUA , in the estimation of the MWUN is operating illegally and should, henceforth, be disbanded by the relevant authorities. The MWUN is the umbrella body of labour unions operating in the the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. MWUN branches include those of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dockworkers Branch, Seafarers Branch among others.
In solidarity with the MWUN, the umbrella body of haulage operators in the maritime business sector identified as the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has firmly reiterated that COMTUA is no longer recognised and has no business to operate in the Nigeria’s maritime sector.
Speaking on the development, Chief Remi Ogungbemi, Chairman of AMATO, and Kennedy Ikemefuna, Head of Media at MWUN, restated the position first made public in August 2023 that COMTUA has been disbanded by its founding unions and associations.
The AMATO Chairman, Ogungbemi warned that any persons or groups who continues to parade themselves as COMTUA members and representatives would be doing so at their own peril, and, therefore, may risk being arrested.
According to Ogungbemile, COMTUA “has been disbanded”.
On its part, the spokesman of the MWUN, Ikemefuna said in a statement he issued on behalf of the labour unions to wit, “Whoever he is talking to, that is their business because they are no longer with Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.” Ikemefuna also added that the MWUN, along with the other founding bodies, no longer recognise COMTUA in any form.
The reaffirmation by MWUN and AMATO of the proscription of COMTUA came in response to recent claims by some unidentified individuals who purported to be representing COMTUA and attempted to engage in negotiations or representation of truckers’ interests in the maritime sector. According to both AMATO and MWUN, such individuals are acting without authority and in direct defiance of the formal dissolution of COMTUA since 2023.
The statement added that in August 2023, seven major unions and associations namely MWUN, AMATO, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (COTOAN), and Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (ACTOAN), formally disbanded COMTUA and issued a stern warning to all stakeholders and security agencies not to engage with anyone acting under its banner.
At the official dissolution ceremony held at the NARTO Secretariat in Lagos, COMTUA’s founding president, Thomson Olaleye, declared that the council had “outlived its usefulness” and ceased to exist as of July 31, 2023.
“Consequently, the freedom to associate, under which COMTUA was formed, has ceased upon the termination of the MoU and the body hitherto called COMTUA has died,” Olaleye said at the time.
Security agencies and government bodies were formally notified and instructed to treat any ongoing operations or representations by COMTUA-affiliated individuals as illegal.
“Whoever parades himself as executive of the body should be treated as an impostor and subsequently arrested,” the group warned.
When contacted via his WhatsApp page, President of COMTUA, Olayinka Aroyewun, said no other association had the power to proscribe COMTUA. He described the alleged proscription of his association as a false claim.
He said, “Good evening. No association can proscribe the other. The claim is false. They are neither CAC nor Registrar of trade”.
