Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
At least five people have been hospitalised following a clash involving rival transport unions in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Monday, amid an escalating dispute over tricycle operations and union affiliation.
The violence affected parts of Idi-Araba and Itakudimo, causing residents and motorists to flee as the confrontation intensified. The incident reportedly followed an alleged attack on the office of the National Association of Road Transport Owners.
A resident, Mubaraq Bello, said the trouble began when youths arrived in tricycles carrying cutlasses and other weapons before moving towards the NARTO office.
“We were at home when we suddenly saw some youths alighting from tricycles with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons before moving towards the NARTO office. Some of them started throwing stones at the building, and that was when the situation became tense”, Bello told our correspondent.
A NARTO member, Abubakar Olatunbosun, accused members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria and Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria of attacking its members while they were heading to the Kwara State Police Headquarters.
“We were on our way to the police headquarters when we were attacked by members of the other unions. More than 100 tricycles belonging to our members have also been seized, and we are appealing to the state government to intervene before the situation gets out of hand,” Olatunbosun said.
Two injured tricycle operators, Abdulwasiu Jamiu and Lukman Iyanda, also alleged that their vehicles were forcibly taken during the confrontation. Jamiu said several operators were attacked, while Iyanda said he sustained a hand injury while working at Itakudimo.
The dispute has been linked to allegations surrounding the seizure of tricycles operating on major roads in the state. The Financial Secretary of the Kwara State Tricycle Riders, Abdullahi Abdulraheem, alleged that the action followed a directive by the Commissioner for Transportation, Aliyu Korasabi.
Abdulraheem said the seizures had affected the livelihoods of operators and claimed that a court order permitted tricycle riders to operate without harassment. Another operator, Mustapha Abdulateef, said issues including union ticket costs and alleged police harassment had influenced some riders to join NARTO.
However, the Kwara State Ministry of Transportation rejected allegations of intimidation, bias and preferential treatment, describing the claims as unfounded. In a statement by its Press Secretary, Alabere Ahmed, the ministry said it had remained neutral in the dispute involving the transport unions.
Korasabi said the ministry’s role was to coordinate transportation activities lawfully and fairly, adding that the disagreement involving NARTO, NURTW, RTEAN and TOAN had been addressed at several meetings without a final resolution.
“I wish to reiterate that the Ministry of Transportation has no arrangement or special treatment for any transport union in the state. As a government, our sole mandate is to continue coordinating the operations of all transport sectors in a lawful and equitable manner”, Korasabi said.
The commissioner said the matter remained before a court, which had directed the parties to maintain the status quo. He also denied that the ministry ordered the reported impoundment of tricycles, saying the vehicles were taken into custody as a precautionary measure amid the dispute.
The state government urged residents to remain calm and avoid actions that could worsen the situation, while the ministry reaffirmed its commitment to peaceful engagement, equal treatment of transport unions and an orderly transportation system in Kwara State.
