seafarers in the world have spoken with one voice demanding the declaration of Niger Delta area in Nigeria, a war zone, Empowered Newswire reports. According to the International Transport Workers� Federation, ITF, the time has come to declare Nigerian territorial waters a war zone with what is now known as an alarming rise in attacks and kidnappings on merchant shipping by suspected Niger Delta militants.
The International Transport Workers� Federation (ITF) which is an international trade union federation of transport workers with 681 unions representing 4,500,000 transport workers in 148 countries, said in London on Friday that it was pressurizing shipping associations and major shipping firms around the world to recognise the dangers of operating off Nigeria.
Reuters quoted ITF spokesman Sam Dawson over the weekend saying the unions� action �is in response to an increasing number of attacks and kidnappings by the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).�
If this pressure builds and the threat grows it may cause serious economic consequences on Nigeria�s maritime based business concerns. Headquartered in London with offices in Africa, Japan, India, Russia and elsewhere in Europe, ITF is one of several Global Federation Unions allied with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and observers say its voice cannot be easily ignored in maritime issues because of the large membership and unions that form the federation.
ITF spokesman said it was the first time the ITF recommended such a course of action for the West African nation stressing that if declared a war zone, Nigeria would change terms and conditions for seafarers operating there, including paying them higher wages, commensurate with the high risk that is now believed to be involved with being a seafarer on Nigerian waters.