In Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital penultimate Monday and Tuesday, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) unleashed terror on residents and damaged property worth millions of Naira. They were protesting Governor Ayo Fayose’s arrest, detention and arraignment of one of their members. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.
Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, was in turmoil penultimate week when members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) held the city by the jugular.
The commercial drivers declared ‘war’ on Governor Ayo Fayose who they accused of victimising one of their members, Ahmed Kolo. Kolo was arrested, arraigned in court and remanded in prison custody since September 27 at an Ado-Ekiti Magistrate’s Court for allegedly attempting to knock down Fayose with his car.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Monica Ikebuilo told the court that the defendant committed the offence on September 24 at Ijigbo Street in Ado-Ekiti.
She alleged that the defendant, on the said date, unlawfully attempted to murder Fayose by hitting his car.
Ikebuilo said she had duplicated and forwarded his casefile to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
According to her, the offence contravened Section 320 of the Criminal Code Cap C 16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2008.
The plea of the defendant was not taken as his counsel; Mrs Felicia Nwandichi sought a short date of adjournment pending the determination of advice from the DPP.
The presiding Magistrate, Mrs. Dolapo Akosile ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody till the outcome of the DPP’s legal advice.
When the case came up for hearing on October 9, Kolo’s remand was renewed by the court, an action that did not go down well with his colleagues who claimed to have made representations to the governor to plead on their colleague’s behalf.
It was the innocent residents of Ado-Ekiti that were at the receiving end of the “big fight” between Fayose and the drivers’ union.
The face-off between still remains a mystery to residents because of the good “working relationship” between the two parties.
The drivers are one of the important stakeholders of the Fayose administration and they always play one role or the other anytime the state is celebrating one ceremony or the other.
But it seems the relationship between them had gone awry over the governor’s treatment of one of their own.
Guns boomed. Traffic, commercial and social activities were paralysed as business centres and schools were closed as the drivers moved from one location to the other. They attacked and damaged several vehicles belonging to innocent residents.
The Ado-Ikere Highway was blocked for several hours and vehicles were unable to get to their destinations. The drivers used a trailer to block the road at Assumpta area which caused traffic gridlock.
The members of the NURTW continued their violent protest early on Tuesday as many residents who were on their way to their workplaces and schools were turned back when the suspected hoodlums blocked the dual carriage way at Akure Garage.
The drivers shot into the air and wielded dangerous weapons such as bottles, cutlasses, axes and charms as they hurled stones at the anti-riot policemen who were deployed in the area to quell the crisis.
They placed fetish objects, broken bottles, stones and barricades on the road; chanting anti-Fayose songs. The presence of riot policemen did not deter them as they dared the security agents to shoot at them.
The drivers lit bonfires in places such as Ajebamidele, Akure Garage, Ijigbo Roundabout, Matthew Junction, Okeyinmi, Ajibade Garage, Irona, Atikankan and Oke-Ila.
Motorists and motorcyclists took alternative routes with many of them plying roads already damaged by erosion. Gunshots were heard at Ijigbo, Ajilosun and Akure Garage areas which caused panic in the neighbourhoods.
Traders, who had displayed their wares hurriedly closed their stalls and fled when they heard gunshots fired by the drivers. Erekesan and Bisi markets suddenly became ghost of themselves with thick smokes from the tyres used to make the bonfires billowing into the sky.
Schools were shut early and parents had to hurry to the various schools in order to withdraw their kids. Innocent commuters passing through Ado-Ekiti had harrowing stories to tell.
A billboard depicting the picture of Fayose endorsing his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, as his successor located in New Garage was vandalised. Another giant billboard bearing the picture of Fayose which was installed by the Chairman of Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area, Mr. Ayodeji Ogunsakin, was also destroyed by members of the drivers’ union.
Those passing through the Akure Garage area were forced to raise their hands before being allowed passage by riot policemen stationed in the area.
Some member of the NURTW alleged that one of the members of the union was shot by the police at Ajilosun area. He declined to reveal the hospital where the alleged victim was rushed to.
The driver said: “One of us was shot at Ajilosun very close to Fayose Market. There is no way we won’t revenge the killing. We are even going to burn down police station if that boy dies.”
A younger sister of Founder/Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola, Mrs. Florence Olukolade, told our correspondent that the commercial drivers damaged her Toyota Avensis car with registration number AKR 657 FW.
Mrs. Olukolade revealed that the drivers forcibly removed her car key and fled after the vehicle was vandalised. She further revealed that the hoodlums damaged six other vehicles.
She said: “At 11:30 a.m. today (Tuesday), I was coming from Akure and I saw row of vehicles. We wanted to turn back but the policemen passed our vehicle and the next thing that happened was that these boys just came and ordered us to stop.
“They ordered us to surrender the car key and my son who was driving surrendered the key. They were pushing us, threatening that they will shoot us. There was a man they wanted to stab with their cutlass.
“In the course of the confusion, I ran into a nearby house, I fell down and was injured. About six vehicles, including mine, were damaged.
“I had reported the incident at Ologede Police Station along Ikere Road.”
Addressing reporters on the incident, Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Modupe Alade, said the NURTW leadership had already reached out to the governor to resolve the crisis.
She said the detained driver was rude to the governor. He was arrested and taken to court for traffic offence, when he refused to apologise to the governor.
Mrs. Alade said: “The driver drove recklessly against the convoy and he was arrested. Rather than apologise, he was rude to the governor.
The governor asked them to come and apologise, but they refused.
“The governor, as a no-nonsense person won’t tolerate any threat from anybody. And not until he apologised, he won’t be released.”
Police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi, refuted the claim of the NURTW men that one of them was shot.
Adeyemi said: “Let me make it clear, nobody was shot by our men and we have not even arrested anybody.
“We are dialoguing with the leadership of the drivers’ union and we are sure that the matter will be resolved soon.”
Many residents of Ado-Ekiti who were panic-stricken because of the bloody clash did not go out on Wednesday to avoid being caught in crossfire.
But the victims are still counting their losses; those whose cars were smashed and those who sustained injuries during the two-day mayhem. So also were traders who could not open for businesses for the two days.
The NURTW leadership led by the state chairman, Mr. Clement Adekola, on Wednesday signed an undertaking to maintain peace while Fayose promised to release the detained driver from prison.
