No fewer than 536 staff members of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have accused the agency’s management of deliberately plunging them into poverty, sickness, and death by refusing to pay their salaries and allowances since 2007—an injustice that has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 120 of their colleagues.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Bauchi State, the affected staff described their ordeal as “a grave injustice and untold hardship,” stressing that for 18 years they had been denied their wages, pensions, and entitlements despite not being dismissed, retrenched, or indicted for any wrongdoing.
The group recalled that on May 22, 2013, the Federal High Court in Ikoyi ruled in their favour and ordered their immediate reinstatement with full payment of salaries and allowances. But 12 years after the judgment, NPA management has refused to comply.
They also revealed that on August 22, 2017, then Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, through a letter from the Presidency, directed the NPA to resolve the matter.
Similarly, the National Assembly on May 17, 2016, passed a resolution mandating the Minister of Transportation to reinstate the affected staff and pay their arrears. Both interventions were reportedly ignored.
Over 120 of our colleagues have died due to a lack of healthcare and basic needs. Many of us can’t send our children to school,” the workers said in a joint statement signed by Yakubu Dogara, Chairman of the Affected NPA Staff Forum, and Mathias Aboi, its secretary.
“We have been subjected to poverty, trauma, and humiliation for 18 years, while the management of NPA continues to disregard the judiciary, legislature, and executive with impunity.”
The aggrieved workers appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene, enforce compliance with the 2013 Federal High Court judgment, and order a full-scale investigation into the agency’s open defiance of lawful directives.
They insisted that the President’s timely action would not only restore their livelihoods but also prove that his Renewed Hope Agenda prioritizes justice, workers’ welfare, and respect for the rule of law.