Adeleke bans NURTW activities in Osun over leadership crisis

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has directed the police and other security agencies to immediately stop all activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in motor parks across the state.

The directive followed the leadership crisis that engulfed the NURTW on Monday, triggering a dispute over the control of motor parks and raising security concerns.

Earlier, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Osun State chapter, suspended the union’s leadership and constituted caretaker management committees to oversee transport unions across the state.

The governor’s directive was issued on Thursday after a meeting of the Osun State Security Council chaired by him and attended by heads and representatives of security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Correctional Service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun).

In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the governor also ordered an immediate halt to the collection of levies in all motor parks and directed security agencies to arrest anyone found parading himself or herself as an official or executive of the union.

“I hereby direct the Police and other security agents to stop all activities of the union in all our parks across the state. I’m not saying you should close the parks, but you should not allow anyone to operate in the parks in the name of the union. Anyone found contravening this order should be arrested for possible prosecution for disturbing the public peace,” the governor said.

Adeleke also directed the immediate establishment of a Rapid Response Squad comprising personnel from all security agencies in the state to ensure compliance with the directive.

The statement added that the security commanders present at the meeting assured the governor of their commitment to enforcing the order.