Motor park touts, bus drivers clash in Umuaka over daily levy.
2 min read
Motor park touts operating under the capacity of National Union of Road Transport Workers NURTW, Umuaka branch yesterday caused a serious transport crisis in Afor Umuaka Modern Market. Umuaka Times was reliably informed that the face-off which was targeted against the bus drivers plying Umuaka Onitsha route could have been more tragic if the drivers had decided to face the motor park touts fire for fire.
According to one of the drivers who briefed Umuaka Times on the tragic development, trouble started yesterday being Thursday 12, May 2022 at the Onitsha bus section of Afor Umuaka when drivers who ply Umuaka to Onitsha road were ordered to stop loading passengers at their designated park in Afor Umuaka.
The order to stop loading passengers came from the representatives of the NURTW who wanted a slight increment from the daily payments the bus drivers pay to the union each. The NURTW boys recently increased the daily payment from N2000 to N2,500 for each bus. According to the source that briefed Umuaka Times, the drivers were still battling the sudden increment of N2,500 before they NURTW boys came with another increment. This time, the boys were demanding N3000. The Umuaka Onitsha bus drivers refused to accept the increment because of the high cost of fuel and other extortions on the road by some uniformed persons between Umuaka and Onitsha. The refusal of the drivers to comply with the new tax which they considered outrageous, was said to have provoked the NURTW boys who then took the laws into their hands and started vandalizing the buses of the drivers and fighting them. Umuaka Times was properly informed that the NURTW boys were armed with machetes and other dangerous weapons.
By the time the fight started, the drivers had to run from the scene of violence because they had a lot to lose as they never prepared for the fight. Too bad, it did not work as they envisaged; the drivers still lost a lot after the fight; a total of 4 vehicles were vandalized by the boys before the fight came to an end.
Determined not to take the laws into their hands, the drivers went to Njaba Police Station to report the matter but on getting to the station, they were disappointed as the gate of the police station was locked. According to our source, the drivers went back to seek other alternative routes to peace. Umuaka Times was reliably informed that later in the day, some stakeholders and peace makers gathered and initiated peace moves among the two bodies. For now, a meeting had been fixed for next week on the peace process which is believed to usher in a lasting solution among the drivers and NURTW members. So far, the NURTW boys have been told to suspend actions on the new increment and return to status quo, pending when the issues would be resolved.
