OLALEKAN OLABULO and SHEHU BELLO went into the heart of Oshodi to feel its pulse in the absence of the banned union boys who used to make things happen there.
NO fewer than 550 members are affected by the government ban on the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the Oshodi area of Lagos State. The ban came on the heels of the killing of a chieftain of the union, Rasaq Bello, popularly known as Hamburger.
Also, about N5 million is believed be lost daily to the ban on the union’s operations in the area, even as policemen, soldiers and some government personnel are said to also be sharing in the loss.
An NURTW member told Saturday Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the ban was harsh on the union and urged the governor to look for an alternative way to resolve the crisis in Oshodi. “Some people have been fingered in this crisis. What the government should do is to investigate their involvement and prosecute those found culpable as a way of deterring other troublemakers in not just Oshodi but Lagos in general. The ban is not the solution. If by tomorrow, the necessary things are not done and the government lifts the suspension, there will still be crisis. Some members are perpetual troublemakers and they should be made to face the law,”
The transport union member spoke on the gains and loss of the ban: “The loss is, by far, greater than the gain. The only gain is the temporary peace, the sustenance of which is not even guaranteed, but the loss is huge. No fewer than 500 people have lost their daily source of income and if you consider that many of these people are breadwinners, you will be able to imagine how many people are actually affected. The union members all have families. They feed and pay for the education of their children and pay other bills.”
Another union member who identified himself simply as Coded also said that “what the government should have done is to liaise with the leadership of the union in the state and work out modalities on how to put a permanent stop to the crisis.” Coded added that “the government should have allowed the state’s leadership [of the union] to draft in caretaker committee to the troubled area. By doing this, some of the union members in Oshodi who are not directly involved in the crisis will retain their livelihood.”
He stated that there were two groups of the union in Oshodi but “we have eight branches in all. Seven of those branches are controlled by loyalists of Oluomo and himself. The last branch belongs to Talo. The government can identify the leaders and the executives of all the branches. Each of the branches has about 15 executive members. The branches also have 10 component units. Each of these units has nine executive members and about six park attendants who help to collect levies.”
He added: “If you add all these numbers, you have more than 500 people but with the ban on union activities, these people have swollen the number of the unemployed in the country at the moment, and the longer the ban, the more the loss and the more the people that are affected.
“Let me do a simple mathematics: if you multiply eight branches by their units, you will have nothing less than 64 units. Each of these 64 units makes at least N70,000 a day. The aggregate will give you about N5 million per day. You can imagine the amount of money that is being lost daily. From the money, we ‘settle’ different police and army patrol teams. They are also losing to the ban because they cannot come and tell me to give them money when we are not operating.
“The local government will also suffer if the ban extends beyond one month. We have what we give them on a monthly basis. It is not only the transport union that will suffer from the ban; it will also affect the revenue being generated from the motor parks.”
Efforts to speak with the leaders of the NURTW in the state failed. The mobile phone lines of the state chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, were not reachable as of the time of filing this report. But Alhaji Agbede had expressed his support for the ban and advised members of the union in Oshodi to abide by the decision of the government.
Alleged partial operation
In the meantime, it has been discovered that the ban is being partially observed by the union members. Saturday Tribune’s visit to the area during the week showed that NURTW members were still operating in some areas in Oshodi, while the motor parks, which are the centres of the union’s activities, were deserted. The state’s task force officials were seen patrolling the streets and manning strategic points to forestall any reprisal by men loyal to the deceased union member.
It was also observed that the population of passengers in Oshodi had reduced. There were many buses which only had their drivers sleeping in them. Other drivers just stood by waiting for passengers.
Also, a visit to Brown Street, said to be a flashpoint in the event of any crisis in Oshodi and which used to be packed with buses and passengers, was found deserted by passengers and motorists. There were minimal activities and many traders still had their shops closed.
A driver at Cele-Ilasa-Mile 2 Motor Park, who craved anonymity, said, in a chat with Saturday Tribune, that Oshodi was a volatile area which needed government’s attention.
“I really can’t tell you anything more than the fact that this place is volatile. I really can’t say much about this issue. Although it has been peaceful and nothing has happened, I can’t discuss with you about what is happening in NURTW and the government ban, because I don’t know anything,” he said.
A bus conductor, Jamiu Alade, who also belonged in the park, said the ban was a welcome development.
“We like what the government has done. There hasn’t been any form of violence or anyone coming to ask for any money from us. It has been peaceful, quiet. It is just that the number of passengers has reduced because people tend to avoid this place now due to the crisis,” he said.
An interstate driver in the area who refused to give his name said motorists now rarely see passengers.
“I am an interstate driver. I don’t stay in Oshodi or reside in Lagos, so I can’t tell you much. But what I can tell you is that since the crisis started, we now rarely get passengers as people seem to stay away from this place and it is affecting us. Yesterday, Lagos State task force arrested some of my colleagues. Although we are not part of the brouhaha, we get harassed by policemen sometimes. So, the crisis has affected us too. But I don’t know much about what is going on becuase I don’t stay here.”
An operational park was visited by Saturday Tribune but it was claimed to be under Onigbongbo and not Oshodi. At the park, NURTW members were seen going about their activities without any hindrance.
A unit chairman at Onigbongbo, Abiodun Olawale, told Saturday Tribune that Onigbongbo was affected by the government ban. According to him, “people think that Onigbongbo is part of Oshodi but we are not. Oshodi stops there [pointing in a particular direction] and does not extend to this place. We are not an extension of Oshodi. The fact that we are close to each other does not mean we are under Oshodi. After the bridge is Mushin, not even Oshodi. And this place is Onigbongbo, not Oshodi. We are peace-loving people here. You can’t find anyone troublemaker here. We need to find a solution to this problem because it is affecting us too, even though we know nothing about it. I was even arrested yesterday [Tuesday]. The police thought we were the same with the Oshodi-Isolo but we are not; we are part of Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area and not Oshodi.
“I have told all those working with me to stay away from the streets, to let everything go down a bit. They took us to the task force office in Ikeja and told us to sit on the floor. I was eventually released after my boss came and explained to them that we were not part of the area where the government has imposed the ban. We are talking to the government and everyone involved on the need to resolve the situation. We have also explained to government that we are not part of Oshodi and since the government has been made aware that the seven NURTW branches in Oshodi are where the crisis originated from, the branches have been told not to operate for now.”
An Onigbongbo NURTW member, Tajudeen, corroborated Olawale’s claims, saying the crisis had affected the union and motorists passing through Oshodi as passengers now preferred taking another routes for fear of being caught in the middle of a reprisal.
Commuters speak
A passenger who gave her name only as Mrs Shitta told Saturday Tribune that she supported the government ban. “This is a welcome development and I support it wholeheartedly. Even the drivers are happy about it and we feel very happy and would want it to continue like this,” she said.
Also, a passenger, Mrs Olaitan Olaleye, said the government’s action was in order. “This is good. We support any government’s action that is taken to bring sanity to Oshodi. We are happy about this. There is no change in the fares but we are happy about the ban,” she said.
Another passenger, Oladotun Benjamin, said the measure that had been taken by the government in Oshodi was yielding positive results. According to him, “I do transport a lot around this place. Before, it wasn’t like this, but now, the pressure has reduced. The traffic always witnessed here has also reduced due to the construction of new roads. The regulation by the government against NURTW is also helping. I feel safer than before. There is a difference in motorists’ operation in Oshodi and I am happy about it.”
Okada riders’ protest alleged continued tickets sale
When Saturday Tribune visited the okada riders’ bus stop in Oshodi on Wednesday, the operators were seen protesting the continued activities of Motorcycle Riders Association, a sister union of NURTW, after the state government ban. The okada riders were seen in their numbers arguing and threatening the NURTW members collecting levies in Oshodi. A rider, Kunle Quadri, who spoke to Saturday Tribune, said the NURTW was operating despite the ban.
“I was beaten this morning by NURTW members after I resisted their demand for money. They collected my key and said they won’t give it to me unless I paid the money, which I did after I was beaten. They claimed the ban didn’t affect them and that it was meant for motorists and not okada. But this morning, after they collected money from us, we gathered ourselves together and went to a police station in Oshodi to complain about the NURTW action. We were told not to pay and wait for the government’s order on the issue,” Quadri said.
Frank Ochibo, another okada rider, displayed the ticket sold to him by the NURTW members in the early hours of Wednesday. “They waylaid us and demanded that we pay them. They said if we resisted, they would beat us and damage our motorcycles. We have reported them to the police. We want the government to come to our rescue. They claim they are not part of those banned by [Governor Akinwumi] Ambode. I wonder if we have two NURTWs in Oshodi,” he stated.
Yet another okada rider, Sunday Oladapo, complained about the excesses of the NURTW members. “We support the Lagos State government ban. We can’t be working and someone will sit somewhere and be collecting our hard-earned money all in the name of ‘owo ile’. The government needs to do something about this. Even with ban, they are operating. Early this morning, we all came out and faced them. We told them we are not going to pay anymore until we hear from the government,” Oladapo said.
We sold no okada rider any ticket –NURTW
An NURTW member, Chidi, who was earlier seen arguing with some okada riders, in a chat with Saturday Tribune, denied the riders’ claim that the union was operating. He said he did not know where the riders got the ticket shown to this reporter.
But it was observed that some NURTW members were operating on the streets, hanging around without uniforms on and collecting money from okada riders.
Efforts to get the reaction of leaders of the motorcycle section of the transport union in Oshodi were unsuccessful. The union’s office was deserted and there were no visible activities going on there. It was also found out that some NURTW members have left Oshodi due to the tension in the area and are waiting for the crisis to be resolved before appearing there again.