Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A leader of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in Ogun State, Oluomo Akibu Titilayo, has denied suspending some members of the union from partaking in transport activities in motor parks in Ogun East.
Akibu, who stated this on Wednesday in Ijebu Ode while speaking with reporters, denied the suspension allegation leveled against his leadership, saying RTEAN activities have been conducted in a fair and transparent manner since Governor Dapo Abiodun assumed office.
Some members of the union had on Monday besieged the Police Area Command Office, Igbeba in Ijebu Ode, to protest what they described as their alleged suspension from various parks in the area.
But speaking with reporters on the development, Akibu, popularly known as Efele, insisted that no legitimate member of the union in the area had been stopped from partaking in union activities across motor parks in Ijebuland.
He, however, claimed that his investigation had shown that the protesters were hoodlums, hired by some aggrieved members of the union to cause disharmony within RTEAN in Ogun East.
“We operate a process where genuine complaint from members are lodged and addressed. The leadership of the union will thereafter look into it in a way to resolve such. But the reverse is the case in this situation. We have it on good authority that those protesters were hoodlums who were hired by some recalcitrant members to cause mayhem in the state,” the union leader said.
“It is important to state the obvious as we now have a friendly atmosphere at various parks unlike what was obtained in the past. We live in harmony as all of us now relate as one extended family.
“Let me reiterate that no single member of the union has been denied his responsibility. So, those protesters are either hired to foment trouble at the parks to carry out ulterior motives of their sponsors or deliberately wanted to truncate the peaceful atmosphere we now have in the union,” Akibu added.