Workers in the food sector have raised the alarm over Nigeria’s ports now dominated by foreign operators, cautioning that it may make Nigeria susceptible to attacks from outside the country.
The workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) said there is danger in the nation’s ports, especially the Apapa Port in Lagos.
President of the union, Lateef Oyelekan, said the land, air and sea borders were important to the security of a country, commending the Federal Government for the closure of the land border.
He said the country equally has no problem with the airports, but noted that the union has discovered that foreigners now dominated the nation’s sea ports, operating as clearing and forwarding agents.
“We believe that this will further expose our country to more security challenges as foreigners could easily bring into the country arms and ammunition as well as expired products,” he said.
He said that there had been a case where expired tomato paste was brought into the country, but for the timely information and apprehension by National Agency for Food Drugs Control (NAFDAC), which led to the destruction of the product.
Oyelekan, who is also the vice president of the Nigeria Labour Congress said Nigeria today can be self-sufficient in the production of food, drinks and beverages, hence there is no need to import any of such products.