Fights involving agberos usually turn out bloody. Two persons were feared killed, others injured when National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) members and tricycle operators clashed in Abule Egba area of Lagos.The casualities were said to be innocent passersby hit by stray bullets.
Residents of Owode Street and environs have fled their homes following the incident.
Two tricyclists, Michael Taiwo and Komolafe Lekan, were allegedly shot by soldiers attached to Operation (OP) MESA patrol vehicle marked LSD529CX.
The soldiers, said to have been invited by NURTW, allegedly fired sporadically.
Taiwo and Lekan have been undergone surgery at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
The Nation gathered that the clash followed the tricyclist’s union’s disengagement from NURTW.
Two NURTW loyalties were apprehended and handed over to policemen at Meiran. A pistol was recovered from one of them.
Owode Community Development Association Chairman Baba Seriki, who confirmed that people were fleeing their homes, urged the government to resolve the crisis.
He said: “There has been tension in this area since Monday. But it was on Saturday night that the two groups fought. We have been seeing thugs carrying cutlasses and bottles roaming the street. In fact, a young boy who came to live with a relative ran away that same day after seeing the thugs.
“Since Saturday night, people have been leaving. It was a terrible experience. I went out and was coming back around 6pm, but was greeted with gunshots. People were just running towards different directions to avoid being caught up in the war.
“This is something the government is aware of. They know about this crisis and so, I don’t understand why they can’t find a solution to it.”
Abule Egba Tricycle Operators’ Union Chairman, Mr. Lukmon Ogede said one of those arrested claimed that they were sent to kill him.
According to him, the suspect mentioned the name of an NURTW chief who hired them for the job.
He said: “They were sent to kill me. One of the suspects was caught with a pistol and he confessed that they asked them to kill me.
“The only problem is that we have said we want to be on our own. We have our own certificate and are now affiliated to Trade Union Council (TUC). But NURTW wants us to still be under them so that they would be taxing us heavily as they usually do.
“We refused and they have been going round our parks, causing trouble. We didn’t fight back. They were the ones that attacked us. Two of our men are in the hospital battling for their lives as I talk to you.
“The thugs still came today (yesterday). My people told me they are at Kola. We have informed the police and we hope that those behind the crisis would be arrested and prosecuted.”
Police spokesperson, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the matter was being investigated. She confirmed that the police recovered a locally made cut to size pistol and a live cartridge.
