RTEAN/NURTW Clash: 11 NURTW Members Regain Freedom In Kwara

From Victor Seyi, Ilorin

The 11 members of the Kwara State branch of the National Union of
Road Transport Workers (NURTW) arraigned in court in connection with the recent clash between members of the union and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Offa have
regained their freedom.
It would be recalled that members of the RTEAN and the NURTW in Offa were recently involved in a violent clash over issues bordering on loading of passengers.
Speaking with The Dream Daily in Ilorin, the state secretary of the NURTW, Alhaji Rasheed Yemi Aliyu, said the acquittal of the transporters was made possible by the intervention of eminent personalities in the state.
Alhaji Aliyu, who said that none of the union leaders of various branches of the NURTW were still being remanded in prison custody over the clash, added that the union had always encouraged peaceful co-existence in the state.
His words: “The union leaders were summoned by police area commander in Omu-Aran through Divisional Police Officer Offa to come and write statement about the clash by the two transport unions, and none of the 11 people were able to narrate the causes of the clash vividly in our statement, because we were not at the scene of the clash. But the Area Commander told us to write all what we heard or know about the clash, which we did. After then, the case was transferred to criminal investigation and intelligent department (CIID) Ilorin. And we were eventually arraigned in court the following day and were later remanded in Mandala Prison.
“However, with the help of eminent people in the society, we regained our freedom and the case was struck out, when the judge in charge discovered that none of the 11 people were involved in the fracas.”