Onitsha Port: NIWA reiterates obligation to safe movement of goods
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has repeated its responsibility towards ensuring the safe movement of goods to Onitsha River Port in Anambra.
The General Manager Corporate Affairs of NIWA, Alhaji Jibril Darda’u, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to Darda’u, the authority ensures this by using a tugboat which it pilots on board with escort from Inland Waterways Police for adequate security.
“Recently, West African Ceramic Limited, a leading manufacturer of tiles in Nigeria under the brand name ‘Royal’ in Ajaokuta, Kogi state, successfully moved goods (tiles) worth twenty-two trailers to Onitsha River Port.
“We took advantage of the dredged channel of River Niger in conveying the tiles on a barge M.V Vega owned by the company. Using a tugboat piloted by NIWA on board crew with escort from Inland Waterways police for adequate security.
”On returning, the barge carried laterite, a major raw material for the production of tiles, that is worth twenty-seven trailers back to Ajaokuta, Kogi state.
”We will continue taking advantage of the dredged channel from Ajaokuta to Onitsha which is 162KM in moving all our products, because it is cheaper and safer,“ Darda’u said.
