Many Injured As Transport Workers Clash In Ogun Over Tickets
Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Ogun State Parks Management (OGSPAM) engaged in a bloody clash on Monday over ticket collection.
The clash which left several people injured, according to sources, took place in some motor parks in Lafenwa, Obantoko, Brewery, Ita-Oshin, Odeda and Kuto.
Osun Defender reports that the state government had created OGSPAM after the activities of NURTW were suspended in the state in 2021.
But the state government, last year October, lifted the ban on NURTW and asked its leadership to take charge of revenue collection at parks.
One of the source who spoke under condition of anonymity said trouble started when the state Commissioner for Transportation, Gbenga Dairo directed the leadership of OGSPAM to stop the sales of revenue tickets, while NURTW was ordered to take over.
The new development, the source noted did not go down well with members of OGSPAM who stormed the parks on Monday with dangerous weapons and shot sporadically into the air.
Visit to Panseke, Kuto, Lafenwa and Brewery motor parks in Abeokuta by a journalist with DailyTrust, showed the presence of heavily armed policemen at strategic locations of the parks to guide against the breakdown of law and order.
When contacted, the transport commissioner, asked the journalist to wait for the ministry’s press officer, Babajide Jokotagba.
Efforts to speak with the press officer were unsuccessful as he neither picked his call nor responded to text messages.
The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamut, confirmed the clash, but said the situation had been brought under control.
Kazeem Badmus is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience. A professional in journalism and media writing, Kazeem prioritses accuracy and factual reportage of issues. He is also a dexterous finder of the truth with conscious delivery of unbiased and development oriented stories.
