Late Seafarer’s Family Receives Lifeline as MWUN Secures P&I Benefits

The Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has recorded what it described as a significant victory in its intervention over the death of one of its members, Comrade Okwuwa Chinedu Godwin, an employee of GMS Recruitment Services Limited, who died on March 18, 2024, following an illness contracted while serving aboard a vessel.

Although the tragedy occurred before the emergence of the current MWUN President-General, Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, the union leadership revisited the matter and pursued it with determination, engaging the deceased’s employer in negotiations aimed at securing the benefits due to the late worker and his family.

The intervention, according to the union, eventually yielded the desired result, with GMS Recruitment Services Limited complying with the union’s demands in favour of the deceased under the applicable Protection and Indemnity (P&I) arrangements.

For MWUN, the outcome goes beyond the resolution of an individual case. It represents the union’s broader responsibility to ensure that maritime workers and their families are not left without support when tragedy strikes in the course of employment.
Comrade Bunu expressed appreciation to the management of GMS Recruitment Services Limited for its cooperation and understanding throughout the process, noting that the circumstances surrounding a worker’s death should not erase the value of the life that has been lost or the rights of the bereaved family.
He stressed that human life remains invaluable and that employers, unions and other stakeholders must work together to ensure that workers’ families receive whatever legitimate benefits and protections are due to them when unforeseen circumstances occur.

The union’s intervention also received appreciation from the family of the late Godwin, who acknowledged the efforts of MWUN leadership in pursuing the matter to an amicable conclusion.

For the bereaved family, the resolution may not erase the loss of their loved one, but it provides a measure of relief and demonstrates that the late worker’s years of service have not been forgotten.

The development also highlights the critical role of trade unions in Nigeria’s maritime industry, particularly in protecting workers whose jobs often expose them to unique occupational risks at sea.
Under Bunu’s leadership, MWUN has continued to position workers’ welfare and the protection of members’ rights as central elements of its engagement with employers and other maritime stakeholders.

The successful resolution of the Godwin case therefore adds another chapter to the union’s ongoing efforts to ensure that maritime workers receive appropriate protection and that their families are not abandoned when tragedy occurs.

For the family of Comrade Okwuwa Chinedu Godwin, the conclusion brings some measure of closure to a painful chapter. For MWUN, it is a reminder that the responsibility of a union does not end when a worker leaves the workplace—or, in the most painful circumstances, when that worker is no longer alive.