Again, Ogun NURTW at daggers’ drawn - How bloody clash in Abeokuta claimed 2 lives

Thugs suspected to be NURTW members
arrested by the police during the mayhem The ancient city of Abeokuta, Ogun State, was recently thrown into an upheaval as NURTW factions clashed over who should lead the union. Rotimi Omole reports.

FOR the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ogun State which had been embroiled in protracted crisis since January 28, when at least five members of the union were arrested by the police, the May 1 bloody clash between its warring factions in which two persons were confirmed dead while several others were injured, had thrown spanner in the wheel of peace efforts being made by stakeholders in the union.

Following the recent attack, major motorparks in Abeokuta and adjoining towns were yet to recover from the shock when the Nigerian Tribune visited the area, as NURTW members were still lamenting the loss of lives as well as the unresolved crisis.

Those who lost their lives in the attacks were identified as one John and Segun Fagbohun. Residents were said to have been thrown into confusion as dangerous weapons, including guns, charms and cutlasses were alleged to have been used while sporadic gunshots rent the air. No fewer than 40 vehicles were also said to have been damaged during the fracas which lasted several hours.

Tracing the genesis of the fracas in a chat with the Nigerian Tribune, the branch chairman of Ita-Oshin NURTW, Alhaji Akeem Bodunrin a.k.a Iyeru and a chieftain of the union, Alhaji Haruna Adekunjo, alleged that the embattled chairman of the state NURTW, Alhaji Ibikunle Baruwa had caused the renewed hostilities as a result of alleged mismanagement of funds and undemocratic principles of administering justice.

According to Alhaji Abodunrin, “Alhaji Baruwa masterminded this attack; he sent his boys to destroy our motorparks simply because our faction is opposed to his style of administration and his executive’s fraudulent activities”.

Speaking further, he said: “The Federal House of Representatives’ Committee on Land and Transport has intervened in this crisis; 20 members of the state NURTW who believed in peaceful resolution of the crisis had petitioned the representatives in spite of the fact that our motorparks had been brought down by Baruwa’s loyalists. In the petition, we told them how the leadership had extorted N200 million from 36 branches of the union to conduct election. We are opposed to this, that’s why they’re planning to assassinate us.

“We are happy that the National Executive Council of NURTW, Ogun State House of Assembly and the Ogun State Government had directed that the state NURTW executive should be dissolved and money collected should be refunded. However, Baruwa is yet to refund this money.”

Nigerian Tribune checks revealed that the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Land and Transport, Mr.Abiodun Adesida had ordered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed between the aggrieved factions and the officers of the state council of NURTW last Thursday when they were invited to Abuja so as to avert further breakdown of law and order.

However, a top aide of the embattled Ogun NURTW boss who pleaded anonymity while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune blamed those who were agitating for the removal of his boss as those responsible for the protracted crisis.

According to him “when you’re planning to remove somebody from office, you don’t unleash mayhem on his supporters; there are constitutional ways of doing that. Both parties must sit together, as my boss strongly opposes violence as a means of removing somebody from office. All their allegations against my boss are spurious and unfounded.”

When asked to shed light on the alleged N200million embezzlement by Baruwa-led executive which the Ogun State House of Assembly and the state government had ordered to be refunded as a way of resolving the crisis, he claimed that he would not say anything about the matter. “Everything is currently being handled by the government,” he stated.

Nigerian Tribune’s investigations further revealed that but for the intervention of the national president of the NURTW, Alhaji Gidado Hamman, the embattled NURTW boss would not have escaped impeachment on February 28 by which time the number of his opponents had increased.

The aggrieved members of the union were said to have recently got a relief to have the state secretariat of the union under lock and key by the national body pending the determination of the matter by the national secretariat in Abuja.

But at a press briefing on April 16, at Sagamu, a chieftain of the union, Yusuf Bamgbola maintained that the only way peace can be restored was to have the embattled NURTW boss, Baruwa out of the state NURTW executive council.

While confirming the arrest of some suspects in the wake of the crisis, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Femi Awoyele stated that those arrested in connection with the mayhem had been charged to court while the command had called the two warring factions to a roundtable conference.

According to Awoyale, “we’ve called them together, the NURTW boss Alhaji Baruwa was there, Alhaji Akeem Bodunrin and their susporters were in attendance. We told them to sheathe their swords and maintain peace in this state and they promised to do that at the end of the day”.