Pandemonium broke out in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Monday as members of rival transport unions clashed, leaving more than five persons injured and hospitalised.
The Newsmen gathered that the violence, which disrupted activities around the Idi-Araba and Itakudimo areas of the metropolis, was said to have followed an alleged attack on the office of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, as residents and motorists fled the area when the situation escalated.
A resident, Mubaraq Bello, said the disturbance began when some youths arrived in tricycles, armed with cutlasses and other weapons, and moved towards the NARTO office.
“We were at home when we suddenly saw some youths alighting from tricycles with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons before moving towards the NARTO office. Some of them started throwing stones at the building, and that was when the situation became tense”, Bello told our correspondent.
A member of NARTO, Abubakar Olatunbosun, accused members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria and the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria of attacking members of his association.
Olatunbosun alleged that the attack occurred as NARTO members were heading to the Kwara State Police Headquarters to seek intervention over the dispute. “We were on our way to the police headquarters when we were attacked by members of the other unions. More than 100 tricycles belonging to our members have also been seized, and we are appealing to the state government to intervene before the situation gets out of hand,” Olatunbosun said.
He added that the association would not resort to self-help, insisting that its members had chosen to pursue redress through lawful means. “We respect the law, and we will not take the law into our own hands. Kwara has always been known as a peaceful state, and we do not want this matter to degenerate further,” he stated.
Two persons injured during the violence, Abdulwasiu Jamiu and Lukman Iyanda, also alleged that their tricycles were forcefully taken from them. Jamiu alleged that several tricycle operators were attacked and injured during the clash. “They attacked us, took away our tricycles and injured some of our members,” Jamiu said.
Iyanda, who was said to have sustained an injury to his hand, alleged that he was attacked while operating his tricycle at Itakudimo. “I was working with my tricycle at Itakudimo when I was attacked. My hand was injured during the incident,” he said.
The clash came amid growing tension over the operation of tricycles and the activities of transport unions in parts of the state.
The Financial Secretary of the Kwara State Tricycle Riders, Abdullahi Abdulraheem, in a video obtained by the Newsmen alleged that tricycles operating on major roads in the state were being seized following a directive allegedly issued by the Commissioner for Transportation, Aliyu Korasabi.
Abdulraheem said the alleged development had prevented many riders from carrying out their daily business and earning a living.
“We have chosen to work for our daily bread. We do not want to engage in theft, banditry or any other illegal activity, but we are being deprived of the opportunity to work. The seizure of our tricycles has become a serious problem for our members, whose livelihoods depend on this business,” Abdulraheem said.
He further claimed that a court had previously ruled that tricycle operators should be allowed to operate without harassment or interference. “We have a court order that allows us to operate without disturbance from any agency or authority, and we are calling on the Kwara State Government to intervene before this matter escalates,” he said.