11th August, 2015
Market leaders from Araromi Oke-Odo market in Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, have sent an SOS to the Lagos State Government and the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Chief (Mrs) Tinubu-Ojo over incessant harassment by thugs allegedly recruited by an official of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and some policemen attached to Oke-Odo Police Station.
In a statement by the market leaders, signed by its secretary, Mr Falana, they said: “When the harassment and intimidation by the NURTW thugs and policemen started in 2009 over ticketing which was resisted by market leaders, we made a passionate appeal to the Iyaloja General of Nigeria to help in resolving the matter, as series of petitions accusing the leadership of stockpiling of weapons were used in a bid to tarnish the image of the leadership of the market.
“Following the petition, Police from Zone 2 Headquarters waded in and investigated the case and discovered that there is no motor park inside the market where the NURTW members can operate and in view of that, the police directed a branch chairman of the NURTW to apologise in writing to the market leaders and Livinus Njoku, the chairman of Igbo traders in the market for false allegations.”
While thanking the Iyaloja for dousing the tension in the market completely through the deployment of soilders to the market to maintain law and order, with an order that all tickets of whatever name be stopped, the leaders said the crisis has raised fears over their fate and safety.
“The withdrawal of soldiers from the market remains an issue that has made peace and orderliness very fragile in the market as the thugs from the NURTW are now moving around the market with policemen harassing and arresting targeted market leaders.”
Corroborating the recent development, Alhaji Kolawole Azeez, a trader in the market, said: “For years, the local government deliberately has been scuttling all possible solutions being advocated by leaders in the market. A situation where the local government will give revenue ticketing of the market to thugs from NURTW is absurd and creates room for anarchy, which is soon on the horizon.”
Azeez further said: “Our fears are about the unknown because the thugs and policemen have defied a directives even as the local government council has not done anything to curtail their harassment and intimidation. We are just at the mercy of these thugs and policemen.”
At the time of this report, efforts to speak with the DPO of Oke-Odo Police Station proved abortive.