Gunshots, injuries as transport union members clash in Ogun

There were heavy gunshots in Ogun State on Tuesday as rival transport union members clash in Itori area of Ewekoro Local Government.

Leaders of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria ( RTEAN), their counterparts in the Ogun State Park Management (OGSPAM) and those of the newly approved Ogun State Operations Management Service (OSOMS) had attacked one another, firing shots and using other weapons.

The transporters were said to have met at Itori Day, an annual festival organised by the Olu of Itori, Oba Fatai Akamo.

It was learnt that some of the union leaders sustained serious bullet and matchette injuries in the melee, which disrupted the festival for hours, even with Governor Dapo Abiodun and other government functionaries in attendance.

It was said that while some leaders of the unions sustained varying degrees of injuries, those with metaphysical powers proved their mettle by escaping unscathed.

Eyewitness accounts had it that the Chairman of the RTEAN in Ogun, Akibu Titilayo, popularly known as Efele and others were attacked in the fracas.

It was gathered that issues about ticketing, especially as it has to do with the newly created union, OSOMS, had triggered the chaos.

Sources told our correspondent that the Chairman of OGSPAM, Akeem Abodunrin (aka Iyeru) and his members were not pleased with the new union, which Efele is in support of, being an Ijebu man.

“At least four persons sustained injuries in that riot,” a source told our correspondent anonymously.

Ogun police talks tough, threatens arrests

The Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, has confirmed the incident, saying those behind the riot will be brought to book.

Oyeyemi, who said no arrest has been made yet, stressed that the police will not allow any group or individual to turn Ogun into a battlefield.

Though Oyeyemi said the police could not pinpoint those behind the incident, he agreed that they were transport union members in the State