By Folashade Alli
Commercial activities at Nigeria’s premier seaport, the Apapa Port Complex, were paralysed on Thursday by protesting retirees of the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA).
Their services were terminated in 2006 after the port concession regime.
The former NPA workers, who staged a peaceful protest at the Apapa Port gate, were said to have been paid severance benefits.
However, they claimed that they were supposed to be also absorbed in the authority’s pension scheme.
Tension rose when some dock workers tried to enter the complex, insisting that the protesting retirees could not stop them. It took the intervention of security agents to avoid the crisis escalating.
A senior security official and some top NPA officials later appealed to the protesters, assuring them that their grievances would be addressed.
The retirees said they would return if the authorities refuse to accede to their demand.
