By AfrikTimes | Osogbo
Barely days after Osogbo’s motor parks became the scene of violent clashes between rival transport union bodies, Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered security agencies to shut down all National Union of Road Transport Workers activities across every park in Osun State, including a complete stop to levy collection.
The directive came out of Wednesday’s State Security Council meeting, chaired by the governor and attended by the Deputy Governor, the Chief of Staff, the Commissioner for Information, the Special Adviser on Security Matters, and commanders from the Police (both the State Command and Zone 11), the DSS, Army, Air Force, Navy, Civil Defence, NDLEA, Immigration, Correctional Service, FRSC, NAPTIP and the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun).
No more “union officials” in the parks
According to a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi Oluomo, the council reviewed the state’s security situation and resolved that restoring order to Osun’s motor parks required pulling NURTW out of park operations entirely, for now. Police and other security agencies have been directed to arrest anyone found presenting themselves as a union executive or official in any state motor park going forward.
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Adeleke was direct about what the order does and doesn’t mean, stressing that parks themselves aren’t being shut down, but only union-affiliated operations within them. He said anyone caught running park activities under the union’s name should be arrested and handed over for prosecution on public peace disturbance charges.
Security commanders at the meeting reportedly gave their assurance of full compliance. The governor also ordered the immediate setup of a Rapid Response Squad, to be drawn from personnel across the assembled security agencies, tasked specifically with enforcing the new directive.
The backdrop
The order follows closely on the heels of unrest AfrikTimes reported on days earlier, when a protest by a NURTW faction at Osogbo’s Old Garage escalated into violent clashes, followed by a separate shooting incident in the Oke-Ijetu area that left three police operatives injured. That unrest triggered competing narratives, which were: a police account describing a factional dispute over garage access and eyewitness claims alleging the involvement of union members aligned with the ruling APC and a coordinated attempt to seize control of parks across the city.
Wednesday’s directive suggests the state government now views the union’s continued presence in park administration, regardless of faction, as the underlying problem, rather than any single incident.
Whether the order applies to all NURTW factions equally and how long the suspension will remain in place was not addressed in the statement.
