The Allied Truck Transport Association of Nigeria (ATTAN), Badagry zone, have decried the attack on its members by the Road Transport Employee Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Nigeria Union of Road and Transport Workers (NURTW).

ATTAN’s Badagry zonal chairman Kolawole Onifade disclosed this in an interview. According to him, members of the two unions have attacked ATTAN’s members and prevented them from working.

“I was on my way to Alaba to buy spare parts for my trucks when the union members attacked one of our members, telling him to collect a ticket when he had already collected one before. When I challenged them, they beat the hell out of me and the driver, and stole the N500,000 I was taking to the market,” claimed Mr Onifade.

He added, “I fainted, and they took me to the hospital. I did not wake up until after two days. We reported the case at the Zone 2 police station in Lagos. We were there for six months before they transferred the case to Alagbon police station, later Area K zonal police station, then the case was charged to court.”

Mr Onifade explained that the bone of contention was that “when they worked, they did not want our association to work.”

Also speaking, ATTAN’s zonal vice-chairman Monday Haisu, said the frequent visits to different police stations and court daily was taking a toll on the association’s members.

“We are fed up. The case is in court, but the transport unions are disturbing our members daily, beating them mercilessly anytime they are working,” said Mr Haisu. “The chairman said he wants us to work under the other unions for peace to reign although he knows our union is in every part of Lagos, we started operations in 1982. We are appealing to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos to step into the matter for peace to reign…We don’t want this problem to generate to bloody clash like we recently witnessed in Lagos Island. Enough is enough.”

Responding, the RTEAN and NURTW’s coordinator Kehinde Tajudeen said nobody was fighting ATTAN.

According to the Badagry Tipper Drivers Association (BTDA)’s chairman Hezekiah Willian, tipper owners and drivers used to be under the Badagry Joint Tipper Owners and Drivers Association.

“In 2013, there was another union, Union of Tippers and Quarry Employers of Nigeria (UTKEM), and there was an MoU between the BJTODA and UTKEM,” disclosed Mr Willian. “There was peace until 2018 when UTKEM extended beyond their boundaries, and this led to (a) crisis.”

He further stated that the crisis led to the introduction of RTEAN and NURTW “to take control of the tippers; the chairman of BLG then ordered that the two unions should take control of the tippers’ association.” 

(NAN)