24th December, 2010
By Paul Sanusi
Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Waterside Unit, Apapa, Lagos, have appealed to the state government to call members of Apapa GRA Residents’ Association (AGRA) to order over the move to stop them from operating in the area.
The union alleged that the residents have been making frantic efforts to sack them from the area, where it has been operating for over 35 years, by labelling its members as nuisance and miscreants.
Alhaji Lamidi Yussuf, chairman of the unit, in a chat with P.M. NEWS, said the office being occupied by the union was given to them in 1972 by the late Funso Adetiba, a former chairman of Apapa Local Government Area and that ever since the union has been operating in the area, it has not involved in any criminal activities or caused crisis in the area.
Yussuf said the reason why the residents want to evict them from the area was because of members’ refusal to join a particular political party that some of  members of the association belong to, adding that their refusal on the ground that as a union, members are forbidden to belong to any political party.
The chairman therefore appealed to both Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and Mr. Ayodeji Joseph, chairman, Apapa Local Government, to call the residents to order and desist from linking NURTW members to any crisis in the area.
“When we heard that some people are making move to eject us from our unit, we went to the council chairman, who told us that he knew nothing about the move and that we should go on with our legal business. But we knew that it was from the AGRA, we have been operating in the area since 1972 and our records are clean, we have been operating peacefully without any crisis,†said the chairman.
Mr. Mohammed Malik, Secretary of the Community Development Association (CDA) in the area, absolved members of the transport union from any crisis that may break out in the community. He described the members of his union as responsible and law abiding citizens, who make sure that peace reigned in their area of operation.
He said the residents’ association is not recognised by government except the CDAs, while alleging that the association was only trying to create a parallel government and impose itself on his members by harassing and intimidating them.
Malik also accused the residents of the community of bringing criminals to the area by converting their residences to hotels and brothels. This, he said, is responsible for criminal activities witnessed in the area in recent times.
He therefore called the state government to stop the residents’ association from evicting the union from the area.
Comrade James Nnorom, General Secretary, Apapa, Branch A of the union, in his part, said both the branch and state chapters of the union have been informed about the development, adding also that since the union has been operating in Apapa local government as a whole, it has never caused any crisis in the area.
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