The acting administrator of the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Roads Transport Workers (NURTW), Oluwaseyi Bankole, has accused the chairman of the Park Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya popularly called MC Oluomo, of seizing the union’s secretariat building and chasing away staff from the premises.
Bankole also alleges that MC Oluomo got an order from the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to convert the office into a park and garages complex.
He disclosed that all property of NURTW inside the secretariat had been converted to Lagos state park and garages authority and that MC Oluomo went as far as removing the name of the union from the building, using paints.
Bankole said the 11 vehicles belonging to NURTW were also seized by MC Oluomo and also barred the union members from entering the premises.
According to The Guild, speaking on the new developments, Bankole revealed that the MC Oluomo took over the premises two days before he was announced as head of the committee by the Lagos state government and that his team had been making violence in the area where the union office is located.
Bankole claims that the secretariat had been placed under siege by MC Oluomo after deploying members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and other armed men to ensure that no one gained entrance into the premises without his directives.
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The acting administrator noted that after taking over the premises, MC Oluomo repainted the building to remove whatever could link the property to the transport body and has started holding meetings within the premises.
According to him, the move to take over the secretariat started barely two days before the Commissioner for information and strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, released the names of the 25-man committee for the parks management committee.
“The office was not handed over to him (MC Oluomo), he took over the premises with force. And for now, NURTW does not have access to the building and he has deployed members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) to take over the secretariat security.”
He noted that the chairman held his inaugural meeting at the secretariat after taking over it and has assured all members listed as committee members that the NURTW building would serve as their secretariat.
“When he announced that a meeting will be held with members of the committee, we were less concerned but suddenly we discovered MC Oluomo and some of his loyalists stormed the NURTW secretariat in Agege and they vandalized the union property, as well as repainting the building, to reflect their plans.
“And before the final takeover, my office was burgled and the union tickets worth over N30 million were carted away and investigations revealed that it had been sold to members across the state.”
Bankole alleges that MC Oluomo’s actions were authorized by the Sanwo-Olu who directed that the premises be acquired for the park management committee since it would serve as their meeting venue.
The national President of NURTW, Tajudeen Baruwa, stated that the national body will not take any action that could cause a breach of peace in Lagos, and rather than do otherwise, the body will allow the Lagos state government to take charge of the situation as well as do the needful by returning NURTW secretariat to its rightful owner.
“The secretariat in Lagos belongs to NURTW, it is our office and MC Oluomo came to seize it from us under the name of the Lagos state government.
“Since we suspended MC Oluomo, we have resolved to peace and will continue upholding that irrespective of any provocation that may arise from the transport union’s former member. NURTW is a respected union with members that are law-abiding, and the public should not expect anything otherwise from the body in Lagos and across the country.”
