The leadership tussle within the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Ondo State weekend turned bloody as two members sustained matchet injuries.
Two members belonging to one of the factions in the union were reportedly attacked by members loyal to the suspended leaders of the union.
Recall that the state government had suspended NURTW and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) over security concerns.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu said the suspension of the activities of the union particularly at the motor parks, followed security reports suggesting an imminent clash between the two opposing factions in the union over leadership tussle.
The intervention, according to the governor, became imperative to forestall possible break down of law and order.
However, two members of a faction, Omoniyi Oni popularly known as Eniba, and Wasiu Ibrahim were attacked in Akure, the state capital by thugs loyal to the former leadership of the union.
They were reportedly attacked at a barbing salon around Owode in Akure metropolis.
Narrating their ordeal, Omoniyi said that their attackers waylaid them and attacked them with dangerous weapons.
He said some of them sustained varying degrees of injuries and now receiving treatment at the police clinic in the metropolis.
According to him, “Some of our members were on their way to a barber’s shop when they were attacked by thugs known to be loyalists of the leader.”
He said that was not the first time they would be attacked by the other faction.
Omoniyi said as a result of the Ondo transport union leadership they have been prevented from working in the park for over a year when the suspended Chairman drove them away from the garage for no reason.
His words: “The state government has instructed that the Union should suspend its activities for now. But they are still taking illegal money from us, lynching anyone who isn’t in their group.”
Another member of the group, Toyin Olaoye Fayagbe, said they were driven away for the garage for more than a year.
He called on the governor to come to their aid as they can no longer stand the provocation.
Reacting, one of the loyalists of the suspended Chairman, Tayo Ilesanmi, denied attacking members of the other faction.
Ilesanmi alleged that it was staged to give the suspended leadership a bad name.
He said that the chairman, Jacob Adebo is a peace-loving leader who never encourages violence.