The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday threatened to proscribe the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) across the state if the union’s leaders fail to intervene in the violent activities of their members.
The state governor also ordered the immediate suspension of all NURTW activities in Lagos Island following the crisis rocking that chapter of the union shortly after the Security Council Meeting held yesterday.
According to the state’s Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, the suspension was aimed to forestall any further breakdown of law and order and ensure that the peace in the area is not hampered.
Mr. Edgal, while urging members of the NURTW in Lagos Island to comply with the directive, said that government would not hesitate to totally proscribe all union activities if members continue to disturb the peace in the area.
”In view of the crisis rocking the NURTW chapter of the Lagos Island and the insecurity it is creating on the Island, the Security Council Meeting today chaired by the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has ordered that union activities be suspended on the Island until further notice,” the police boss said.
“We are also using the opportunity to call on NURTW leadership in the State that nobody or group of persons, organisations would be allowed to tamper with the peaceful security situation in Lagos State and that the Government would not hesitate to proscribe completely all union activities in the State if their members do not obey the laws of the land and ensure that their activities do not amount to breaching the peace.”
Mr. Edgal said the police has begun series of Town Hall Meetings across the State to set the tone for policing in 2018 and inform residents on the need to take interest in knowing what is happening in and around their neighbourhood.
“In all the town hall meetings, the message has been the same. We have launched ‘Operation Know Your Neighbour,’ he said.
“Knowing our neighbour is a vital aspect of community policing and community safety partnership and that aspect will improve neighbourhood security where at least we get to know what our neighbours do and we would be able to report any wrong doing.
“We are expected that wherever we are, either in our homes, in our churches, mosques, business premises, offices, we are expected to know who our neighbour is and what our neighbour does and if there is anything suspicious or untoward, we are expected to pass information quickly to the police in line with community policing.”
- Gunmen kill NURTW leader’s aide in Lagos
Meanwhile, the personal assistant to Alhaji Kunle Azeez, a leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, identified only as Ganiu, has been shot dead by gunmen in the Idumota area of Lagos State.
The Punch reports that Ganiu (aka Piero), Azeez (aka Kunle Poly) and some security guards, including two policemen, were returning from a meeting around 12 midnight on Tuesday when the gunmen opened fire on them.