The Lagos State Rapid Response Squad has arrested prominent members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state, Kunle Poly and Sego.
The police arm, led by its Commander, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, arrested the NURTW leaders on Monday.
The police said Kunle Poly and Sego are principal suspects in the recurring clashes in Idumota and its environs.
The crisis had intermittently crippled commercial activities in the area. The latest clash occurred last Thursday.
“The arrest was effected today at a meeting where the two NURTW members along with some other stakeholders converged,” RRS said.
“Kunle Poly and Sego are currently being transferred to Zone II, Onikan, Lagos.”
The PUNCH had reported that two persons were feared killed during a clash between two factional members of a transport union in the Idumota area of Lagos.
The two factions – Eyo boys, reportedly loyal to a union leader known as Kunle Poly, and Kosoko boys – have been at loggerheads over control of territory in the bustling commercial centre.
It was gathered that Eyo boys expected Kosoko boys collecting levies from commercial bus drivers on Idumota Bridge to make returns but the latter declined.
The growing tension reportedly erupted in a clash around 12pm on Thursday as hoodlums fired gunshots and brandished cutlasses.
One person was said to have been shot dead while another bled to death from machete cuts inflicted on him. The violence forced traders in markets around the area to abruptly shut down their shops and run for dear life.
Videos of the clash went viral on Friday, with one of the clips showing a bloodied youth being carried away in a wheelbarrow as people ran helter-skelter.
However, normalcy was restored to the area on Friday as policemen and soldiers were stationed in strategic points around the scene but commercial activities had yet to fully return.
MC Oluomo reacts
The operatives of the Lagos Rapid Response Squad (RRS), led by its Commander, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), Treasurer of the Lagos State Council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Mustapha Adekunle (aka Sego) and Lagos Island ‘B’ Branch Chairman Alhaji Abdulazeez Adekunle Lawal (aka Kunle Poly) over the Thursday last week’s clash between the factional union members in Idumota, Lagos Island.
RRS said the duo was the two principal suspects in the constant clashes in Idumota and its environs which have intermittently crippled commercial activities in the area.
“The latest clash which occurred last week Thursday reportedly led to the death of a victim while commercial activities were paralysed in the area for some time until a joint team of police officers were deployed immediately to the area to restore peace,” RRS said.
The operatives said Kunle Poly and Sego have been transferred to Zone II, Onikan.
NURTW Lagos State Council Chairman Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo) described the action as a welcome development in resolving the crisis.
“We need to allow the police to do their job without intervening in it. Their investigation would unravel the truth behind the intermittent clashes and bring it to an end,” Akinsanya said.
Akinsanya urged union members to go about their lawful activities in peace, warning that anyone found causing crisis would face the law.
