Founding unions dissolve COMTUA, seek arrest of anyone parading self as President

The seven founding unions and associations of the defunct Council of Maritime Transport Unions and Associations (COMTUA) on Monday signed off a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to officially announce the dissolution of the Council.

This is just as the founding unions have called on security agencies to arrest and deal with anyone parading as executives or national President of COMTUA.

The founding unions and associations that signed the MoU include the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (COTOAN), Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association (ACTOA) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Pioneer President of COMTUA, Mr. Leye Thompson said the dissolution of the Council became necessary as it has been hijacked by persons who no longer serve the purpose for which the Council was set up.

“We formed COMTUA to offer a workable solution to the then debilitating traffic in and out of Apapa. As a child of necessity then, COMTUA was formed to partner with the government to solve the problem because it was really affecting our businesses and leading to loss of lives.

“There is no doubt that, COMTUA contributed its quota to the enthronement of orderliness in vehicular traffic in Apapa. We recorded some successes when the collaboration was still on with the presidential task team but when people that do not have the interest of the council came in, that’s when we started having problems. In the last one and half years, COMTUA has not been able to achieve anything and it is because the collaboration has ceased to exist,” he said.

Thompson urged government agencies and industry stakeholders not to deal with anyone who parade themselves as members of COMTUA.

“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 with effect from the day we all agreed to put an end to COMTUA, which is on the 20^th of July 2022.

“We are today therefore notifying all government agencies including security agencies to be aware, take note and stop dealing with anyone who still parades himself as COMTUA in whatever capacity.

“We specifically call on relevant arm of security agencies to arrest and deal decisively with whoever parades himself as COMTUA executive or national president of COMTUA,” he said.

Thompson lamented that rather than build on the good legacies of the foundation members, the Yinka Aroyewun one-man interim leadership bastardised COMTUA, and in the process lost the respect of stakeholders in the maritime industry.

This, he said, prompted withdrawal of some prominent members including the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).

“Even though the thinking among most of the collaborating unions was that there was no need for COMTUA any longer, we nevertheless still conducted an adhoc election which produced Mr. Yinka Aroyewun as an interim leader pending the approval of the foundation members of COMTUA but the approval never came.

“Under the temporary headship of Mr Aroyewun, COMTUA lost all its respect, it derailed from the objectives that led to its formation. COMTUA became an instrument of blackmail and ill-conceived petitions.

“We were devastated, because notable industry stakeholders no longer see COMTUA as partners in progress. Nobody was willing to associate with anything that has to do with COMTUA any longer.

“Apparently worried with this string of misdemeanors, the founding fathers of COMTUA consequently called for an emergency meeting which was held on the 20th of July, 2023.

“At this very important meeting, it was unanimously agreed through voting that COMTUA should be scrapped,” he said.

President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju also declared support for the dissolution of COMTUA, saying that the union cannot continue to associate with persons who do not care about the implications of their actions on ports operations.

“We cannot continue to associate with persons who do not have the interest of the ports at heart but keep on attacking government agencies, writing frivolous petitions against operators. It is as bad as that. So, when we made the decision to quit, I don’t think we made a mistake because we all saw it coming,” he said.

Adeyanju said with the dissolution of COMTUA, the union can now sleep with two eyes closed.

Also speaking, former financial secretary of the defunct COMTUA Mrs. Folake George informed that the Council’s bank account will be frozen immediately after the dissolution.