The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Lagos State has cleared the air on the fracas that ensued between its members and those of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Obalende motor park on Thursday.
In a statement, the Publicity Secretary of RTEAN, Abdulrahman Amusan, said it was the NURTW members who attempted to dislodge RTEAN from their area of operation in Obalende.
Daily Trust reports that there was violence in the Obalende part of Lagos Island on Thursday morning when transport unions’ members fought over control of motor parks.
Chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, had accused RTEAN members of attacking his men in order to take over motor parks.
But the RTEAN Publicity Secretary dismissed the accusation, saying, “We have been working in Obalende for long. All of a sudden, on Monday, members of the NURTW encroached into the area of operations of RTEAN.
“This morning when they came, they met with a resistance from our members there, and that led to the fracas. NURTW members were the root cause, attacking our people where they were working.
“This is the true position. We are owners, we are not touts, we love and cherish peace. We want our members to maintain peace and ensure law and order no matter the provocation.
“We want the Lagos State Government to, as a matter of urgency, intervene in the matter. We are for peace, we have been working in Obalende for many years without any problem.”
According to him, members of NURTW and RTEAN have their areas of operations at Obalende until Monday when some NURTW members attempted to take over their park.
“We have been co-existing for so many years. We cannot understand why NURTW does not want our members to do their work. They are bent on pushing them away,” he added.
The RTEAN Chairman, Alhaji Musa Muhammed, had also told Daily Trust that NURTW is bent on sending his people out of Obalende.
According to him, in the whole of Obalende, RTEAN only operates in just two out of 21 units, saying the NURTW still wants to stop his men from the two units.
He recalled that the two units were given to RTEAN when the present CP Hakeem Odumosu was the RRS Commander.
