The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has suspended the Electronic Call-up for trucks (ETO) and cargoes bound for the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) in Apapa.
This was due to the disruption of operations at the terminal protesting members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) against the management of APMT.
NPA, in a series of tweets on its official Twitter handle on Thursday, promised to resolve the dispute between both parties, but stated that APMT would not receive or exit cargoes in 24 hours.
“The authority hereby urges stakeholders to please take note, as ETO tickets will not be issued to APMT bound cargoes.”
The President-General of MWUN, Mr Adewale Adeyanju, said the grounding of activities at the terminal was due to the expiration of the over one week 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 alleged that APMT had constantly flouted the local content law by employing foreigners for jobs that Nigerians could do.
The industrial 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 Wednesday.
