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Members of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, went irate on Thursday to protest alleged extortion by their union leaders.
Drivers had long been complaining about excesses of their leaders, who wait at every bus stop to extort outrageous levies.
The protest, which started at Sango-Ojoo Road, later spread to other parts of the city, compelling several commuters, including workers in the private and public sectors, to resort to trekking to their places of work.
During the protest, several commercial vehicles were vandalised while some commercial banks were forced to shut down for fear of opportunist hoodlums.
Some of the protesters smashed the windscreens of vehicles of some of their colleagues in the union, who did not heed their calls to withdraw their services.
They also caused stampede in some parts of the city, especially at the Veterinary Hospital, Mokola, where there was a minor accident.
One of the drivers, who only gave his name as Isiaka, said they were fed up with the illegal fees, which their leaders allegedly collect on daily basis.
According to him, after paying some mandatory fees at Ojoo end, another set of fee collectors will stand at the University of Ibadan, Sango, Mokola and Dugbe to collect theirs
He said: “We have made several complaints and entreaties to them, but they refused to yield. There is no way we can continue like this.
“What do we tell owners of the vehicles we drive when we stop work in the evening? We are going now to make formal complaints to the police at Eleyele, Ibadan, to help us call the union leaders to order.”