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The bursting of the leader of commercial drivers union in Oyo State Mr Mukaila Lamidi (aka Auxilliary) last week came to Governor Seyi Makinde, politicians, other hoodlums and residents of Ibadan, the state capital as a rude shock.
Auxiliary had reigned like a terror in the state in the first four years of Makinde as governor.
Operating as the chairman, disciplinary committee of the Park Management System (PMS) which was instituted by Makinde after activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) were banned by the governor in 2019, Auxiliary was the de facto chairman of the PMS.
With cover by the governor, Auxiliary determined who headed which park and controlled the revenue from the parks. He was said to be in cahoot with a governor’s aide who supervised their affairs.
The 61-year old did not just manage the parks, he acted as the chairman of the hoodlums propagating and protecting Makinde’s interest all over the state. But he did not do his duties with decency; rather, he operated like another governor, moving about in convoy of about 13 cars at a time, and assaulting anyone that expected him to obey the law of the land while using public roads.
Growing to a level close to becoming a monster, Auxiliary and his boys would attack anyone anywhere that ‘disrespected’ them or held any opposing view to Makinde’s. For instance, when a crisis broke out at Iwo Road interchange in 2021 between some of his boys and shop owners, his boys swooped on the shop owners and a young man who was the child of a shop owner was killed in the melee.
Because of the political cover that he enjoyed, security personnel always stood aloof whenever Auxiliary and his supporters were on rampage.
While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its governorship primary at Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan last year, Auxiliary and his boys attacked a police officer who dared to record how they swooped on supporters of Hazeem Gbolarumi, who contested in the primary against the governor. The police officer attempted to run for cover but did not succeed. They seized his mobile phone with which he recorded, damaged it and assaulted him severely in broad day light.
A reliable source close to the Oyo State Police Command confided in The Nation that police decided to go after Auxiliary after intelligence confirmed that he had perfected plans to unleash attacks on people at major motor parks on Wednesday.
Makinde had hinted Auxiliary of his intention to dissolve the PMS management and reconstitute it to accommodate members and leaders of other factions of NURTW in the state in order to assuage them and ensure lasting peace at motor parks. But the idea did not go down well with Auxiliary who insisted that the control of motor parks had always being a winner-takes-all decision.
The governor, The Nation learnt, tried to make him understand that there was the need to accommodate other tendencies for a broad-based management and inclusiveness, but to no avail.
Auxiliary, it was learnt, wanted to cause chaos on Wednesday to convey to the governor that his decision would worsen the situation instead of saving it. It was learnt that Makinde was oblivious of his plan, and that the governor was counting on continuous dialogue to gain Auxiliary’s buy-in.
With intelligence confirming his plan, and knowing full well the enormity of arms and ammunition at his disposal, the police, The Nation learnt, leveraged on Makinde’s new body language to tame Auxiliary once and for all.
The source disclosed that the command believed that informing the governor might give room for pleas and counsel for delay and any other soft approach which may help the 61-year old escape justice.
On learning about the the raiding of the hotel where he was said to have hidden the arms and ammunition, and the arrest of some of his men, Makinde was said to have expressed shock. He was said to have called the commissioner of police to confirm and commended him for the action though it was not clear if he had any reservation about the raid.
Items recovered during the raid and arrest of 78 supporters include guns, 724 live cartridges, 25 cutlasses, seven jack knife, 33 mobile phones, one laptop, charms, two vehicles, and a sum of over three million Nara. Others include hard drugs, 13 pieces of 9-mm ammunition, two SMG riffles with two magazines and one pump action riffle.
Auxiliary has since been declared wanted on account of several allegations including cases of attempted murder, causing grevious harm, arms dealing, murder, armed robbery within Oyo State and kidnapping at Oke-ogun and Ibarapa axis of the state.
A senior police officer in the state who did not want his name in print said: “ He has been decimated. When new PSM is constituted, leaders at the parks will be responsible for all activities at the parks. PMS officials will have to be screened. They will be profiled. Carrying of weapons especially at the park will no longer be tolerated. Those who have arms should hand over to the police now. The other factions should also learn from this. We have demonstrated capacity. So, others should do the needful and operate within the law.”
