Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in Oyo State have asked Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to warn members of the Park Management System against threatening them or preventing them from occupying their office.
The union in a petition signed by its lawyer, Chief Michael Lana, said it is illegal for the members of the Park Management System to collect union dues from the commercial drivers since the state government did not proscribe the NURTW.
They claimed that members of the PMS threatened to kill members of NURTW when they went to inspect their recently built state office located along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Iwo Road area of Ibadan.
The petition was copied to Governor Seyi Makinde; the Commissioner of Police in the state and the Director of Department of State Service.
A copy of the petition was made available to us on Thursday night.
The petition read “Our client is the owners of the building lying and situated at plot 4 Aduloju Layout along Iwo Road, Ibadan. Our client alleged that while on the inspection of the said building by the executive and the members of our clients today, March 24, 2022, their members were accosted by the so-called Park Managers wearing Mukaila Lamidi aka Auxiliary’s caps and T Shirt with picture of Governor Seyi Makinde.
“It is of note that in the above named suit, the governor of the state deposed that it did not proscribe our client’s union, therefore, there is no order or law preventing our client from using their property.
“Kindly be informed that under section 43 of the Constitution of Nigeria, our client has the right to own the said property and no person has the right to own their property.
“Also, it has been established that the state government is not a trade union, therefore, neither it nor or its agent has the right to collect the union’s dues from commercial drivers and this is the subject of the above named suit. However, our client has copious evidence that the so-called managers are collecting the union dues from commercial drivers in the state.
“The law is that when a matter is pending before the court, neither the parties can do anything thereon. Our client has been law abiding since 2019 when your government handed over the park to Mukaila Lamidi aka Auxiliary thereby leaving our clients jobless to wallop in abject poverty.
“To avoid bloodshed in the state, it is better to warn Mukaila Lamidi to reign in his thugs and make no attempt to disturb out clients of the occupation of their office.
“It will also be in the interest of peace if you also warn the park managers and the local government in charge of collecting union dues from commercial drivers. We believe that as a man of peace, you will heed to our request.”
THE WHISTLER