NURTW chieftain killed in Ojota crisis
He died in hospital, police say
The brewing tension and crisis in the Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) escalated with a bloody clash yesterday as factions engaged in a free-for-all, leading to the death of one of chieftains in Ojota area of the state.
The fracas paralysed business and social activities in the area, as banks and other commercial institutions immediately locked up for business while people scampered to safety.
It was reported that a motor park chairman was killed in the clash between the rival gangs, which openly brandished guns and cutlasses, while some members accused one Azeez Stainless, who was allegedly suspended from the union, of using the clash to take over the park. It was also gathered that juju was used in killing the chairman.
Immediately, a forwarded broadcast on social media went viral on all social media platforms with eyewitnesses sending messages to family members and loved ones to avoid the tense area until a new leadership emerges.
Policemen from Area ‘H’ command and Ogudu GRA Division were immediately drafted to the scene to quell the public disturbance caused by some members of the transport union at Ojota park.
It would be recalled that one person was killed at the weekend in the bloody clash between some rival groups of the NURTW at Apapa Iganmu area of the state when the result of the election result of the national leadership of the union was announced.
The Lagos State police command spokesman, Bala Elkana, however, said no death was recorded in the crisis that ensued between the two factions. He said: “There is a crisis between the factions in Ojota Park. Somebody died on admission in the hospital and the other faction said they used juju to kill him,” he told The Guardian, adding that the other faction mobilized in bid to retaliate the death of their member in the hospital.
Elkana also said police officers have restored calm to the park after being informed, insisted that the NURTW member “was not killed in any crisis, he only died in the hospital.”
