Five injured in transport union clash in Ilorin
At least five people were injured and hospitalised on Monday after a dispute between rival transport unions erupted into violence in parts of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The confrontation disrupted commercial activities around Idi-Araba and Itakudimo, sending residents, traders and motorists scrambling for safety as groups of transport workers reportedly engaged in attacks and counterattacks.
*Commissioner for Transportation, Kwara State, Aliyu Korasabi.
Abimbola Joseph
At least five people were injured and hospitalised on Monday after a dispute between rival transport unions erupted into violence in parts of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The confrontation disrupted commercial activities around Idi-Araba and Itakudimo, sending residents, traders and motorists scrambling for safety as groups of transport workers reportedly engaged in attacks and counterattacks.
The immediate cause of the clash remained disputed, with members of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) accusing rival transport groups of attacking their members, while the wider dispute centres on the control and operation of tricycles in the state.
A resident, Mubaraq Bello, said the crisis intensified after youths arrived in tricycles and headed towards the NARTO office carrying cutlasses and other weapons.
“Some of them began throwing stones at the building, and that was when the situation became tense,” Bello said.
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 and Operators Association of Nigeria (TOAN) attacked NARTO members who were heading to the Kwara State Police Headquarters to seek intervention.
He claimed that more than 100 tricycles belonging to NARTO members had been seized during the dispute.
“We respect the law and will not take the law into our own hands,” Olatunbosun said, appealing to the state government to intervene before the disagreement deteriorated further.
Two injured operators, Abdulwasiu Jamiu and Lukman Iyanda, separately alleged that their tricycles were taken during the violence.
Iyanda said he was attacked while operating his tricycle at Itakudimo and sustained an injury to his hand, while Jamiu alleged that several operators were assaulted.
The confrontation is the latest escalation of a prolonged disagreement over the operation of tricycles and the activities of competing transport unions in Kwara.
The tricycle operators have alleged that their vehicles are being impounded on major roads, a development they say is depriving them of their livelihoods.
Abdullahi Abdulraheem, financial secretary of the Kwara State Tricycle Riders, alleged that the impoundment followed a directive from the Commissioner for Transportation, Aliyu Korasabi.
He also claimed that operators had obtained a court order permitting them to operate without harassment or interference.
Another operator, Mustapha Abdulateef, attributed the movement of some riders towards NARTO to grievances over union levies, alleged harassment by law enforcement personnel and other difficulties faced by operators.
He further alleged that officials of the state Ministry of Transportation disrupted a meeting of riders and damaged office equipment, tricycles, mobile phones and other property.
The operators maintained that their involvement with NARTO was partly motivated by its alleged support for unemployed youths through tricycle ownership arrangements involving instalment payments.
The state Ministry of Transportation, however, rejected the allegations and said it had neither favoured NARTO nor discriminated against any of the transport unions.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Press Secretary, Alabere Ahmed, the ministry described the accusations as unfounded and said they were intended to undermine its credibility.
Korasabi said the government had repeatedly brought the unions together in an effort to resolve the dispute, but no final settlement had been reached.
He said the matter was already before the courts, which had directed the parties to maintain the status quo pending a determination.
The commissioner also denied that the ministry ordered the impoundment of the tricycles involved in the latest dispute. According to him, the action was carried out by other parties to the disagreement after an alleged breach of the subsisting court injunction.
He said the police intervened to prevent the confrontation from spreading, while the affected tricycles were taken into custody as a precaution against damage, theft or further loss.
Korasabi also expressed concern over what he described as a late-night visit by some NARTO members to the ministry’s premises.
The government urged the disputing unions to pursue their grievances through lawful channels and warned against demonstrations at government offices while the case remained before the court.
It said the ministry would continue to work towards an orderly transport system and ensure that all recognised transport groups were treated fairly. With rival accounts still circulating and the underlying court dispute unresolved, the latest violence has renewed concerns that the disagreement could disrupt transport operations and livelihoods across Ilorin if a lasting settlement is not reached.
