NURTW crisis: Union probes causes to prosecute culprits, apologizes to residents

By Abiodun Adebayo

The Lagos State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo has promised to probe the causes of the crisis that rocked the Lagos Island branch of the union in which one person was reportedly killed on Tuesday, sating the culprits would be sanctioned accordingly.

kinsanya who met with relevant stakeholders in the area during an unscheduled visit on Wednesday, said the union would get to the root of the crisis to prevent further occurrence.

According to him, the union has set up a panel of enquiry to unravel the rationale behind the crisis, saying the recommendations of the panel would be implemented with a view to preventing future recurrence.

He sent a note of warning to the members that anyone caught behind the crisis or escalating trouble in any part of the state would be handed over to the security agents and dismissed from the union.

He however apologize to the residents and general public especially those who were affected by the crisis, which he said was perpetrated by the unruly behaviour of some members of the union which led to pandemonium, promising that such would not reoccur as he said that the union regretted that hoodlums took advantage of the situation to wreck havoc on innocent people.

He therefore implored members of the public to go about their daily businesses, assuring them and other stakeholders that relevant security agents have been deployed to the area to forestall peace and maintain law and the order, warning that anyone who tries to cause trouble in the area would face the music.

The NURTW boss said he was wondering on why the crisis broke out despite the fact that the Union has Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee that could have settled any matter that might have degenerated into the crisis.

“The union has Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee saddled with the responsibility of resolving any issue and it is open to anyone who feels being cheated to seek redress instead of taking laws into their hands.

“NURTW is a peace loving union which is interested in easing the transport challenges of the masses and committed to providing accessible, affordable and comfortable transport to members of the public.

“Part of my visit here is to apologize to the residents over the violent attitude of the
members of NURTW. We regret that hoodlums took advantage of the situation to wreck havoc on innocent people,” he said.

Akinsanya emphasized that he wondered why some people would be fomenting trouble to jeopardize the achievements recorded in sustaining peace and orderliness in all branches of the union across the state, pledging that the union would continue to interface and resolve issues capable of causing misunderstanding among members of the union.