Five Injured As Rival Transport Unions Clash in Ilorin

At least five persons were injured on Monday following a clash between members of rival transport unions in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The incident reportedly occurred around the Idi-Araba and Itakudimo areas of the metropolis following an alleged attack on an office of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).

The clash caused panic in the affected areas, forcing residents and motorists to flee as the situation escalated.

A resident, Mubaraq Bello, said some youths arrived in tricycles carrying cutlasses and other dangerous weapons before allegedly moving towards the NARTO office and throwing stones at the building.

A NARTO member, Abubakar Olatunbosun, alleged that members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Tricycle Owners’ Association of Nigeria (TOAN) attacked NARTO members while they were heading to the police headquarters in Ilorin.

Olatunbosun appealed to the Kwara State Government to intervene, stressing that NARTO members would not resort to taking the law into their own hands because of the state’s reputation for peace.

He also alleged that more than 100 tricycles belonging to NARTO members had been seized by the other unions.

One of the victims, Abdulwasiu Jamiu, claimed that members of the rival unions attacked them, seized their tricycles and injured some of them.

Another victim, Lukman Iyanda, said he sustained a broken hand after he was allegedly attacked while operating his tricycle at Itakudimo.

However, a member of RTEAN, who spoke anonymously, countered the allegations, claiming that NARTO was not a registered association and was not recognised by the government.

Efforts to obtain comments from representatives of the other unions were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

The cause of the clash and the circumstances surrounding the alleged seizure of the tricycles could not be independently verified.