Normalcy has finally returned to Obalende area of Lagos Island after hours of tension triggered by a clash between hoodlums suspected to be factional members of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Lagos State Police Command said it arrested six suspected hoodlums responsible for the unrest.
MDB earlier reported that gunshots were heard in the area as hoodlums took on one another.
Read Also: Gunshots As NURTW Rival Groups Clash In Obalende, Lagos (Videos)
Many video footages of the clash shared on Twitter showed people, especially workers resuming for the day’s engagement, running to safety.
Police spokesperson in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement hours after the incident, said normalcy has been restored to the area and that leaders of warring unions have been invited for interrogation.
Adejobi expressed;
The Command has deployed resources to disperse and suppress the hoodlums fomenting troubles at Obalende area of Lagos State. Normalcy has been restored to the area. Based on preliminary findings, the crisis, that occurred today Thursday 11th February 2021, was between transport unions in the area and no life was lost. Six (6) suspected hoodlums have been arrested and handed over to state CID, Panti, Yaba for discreet investigation.
He added;
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has warned that the command will not condone any act of lawlessness and criminality in the state. He however directed the area commander Area A, Lion Building, ACP Bode Ojajuni, to intensify efforts on flushing the hoodlums out of the area and on the Lagos Island in general, with the available recourses deployed to the area command.
The leaders of transport unions in the area, however, have been invited for interrogation and further actions.
On his part, Chairman of NURTW Lagos Council, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo), has accused members of Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) of attacking his members in a bid to take over the park (garage) at Obalende.
He described their actions as uncalled for, urging RTEAN leadership to seek an audience with Lagos State Ministry of Transportation if aggrieved with the present regulations.
According to him, each union has its own garage. He wondered why RTEAN would resort to attacking his members at NURTW-controlled parks.
Obalende, a major intra-state transportation hub, has been experiencing clashes by commercial motorists fighting for control of the parks, which has in time past led to breakdown of law and order.
