The Chairman of the NUPENG PTD Ejigbo depot, Najeem Babatunde has urged all Nigerians, the government, law enforcement agencies, and the Law Court to help the Union weed out fake personalities who are parading themselves as members of the Union.
Describing the recent incidents involving maiming of law-abiding citizens, destruction of properties, and unlawful protests as a ‘sad development’ which is aimed at disrupting the ongoing peaceful electioneering process in the Union, he pleaded with the general public to continue to transact with the organization which is well known across the country.
The authentic Chairman of NUPENG PTD Ejigbo, Mr. Najeem Babatunde made his assertion at a press briefing which he convened yesterday Wednesday, consequent to the Tuesday protests and recent happenings in Ejigbo. The intervention, he considered necessary so that Nigerians will know their side of the story and continue to work with the authentic Union duly recognized by law.
Mr. Najeem Babatunde reacted: ‘What we saw yesterday was abnormal, the reason we have to counter that. We have clarification, we don’t want a situation whereby the thugs, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), use our office as an identification because we are the real and authentic Petroleum Tanker Drivers in Ejigbo.’
‘In the Year 2022, we went into an election in Shangisha, Magodo where we were elected. To resume at the office on the following day became a major issue. When we got to the office, we met different people, thugs, OPC, who occupied the office, chasing us with cutlasses, bottles etc so, we had to run for our lives telling us we should not be seen around.’
‘Ever since, that is what they have been doing. They are always in possession of stones, bottles, asking us not to stay in the area. On our way for a break last week, they attacked us, throwing stones and bottles at us. with cutlasses. Some of us were injured with cutlasses. We had to run for our lives.’
Mr. Najeem Babatunde demonstrated their lawful association with the NUPENG at the national level, ‘We are appealing to the government to come to our aid in this situation. We are not touts like them, we are original members of PTD, Ejigbo Unit. We are under Lagos Zonal Council, Lagos Zonal Council has about eight units, including Mosimi, NNPC Ejigbo, NNPC Ibadan, NNPC Ilorin. We are under Lagos Zonal Council being led by Comrade Omogbolahan Adigun. We are tired of this type of situation.’
‘Our leaders have been trying. They are law abiding leaders. They like to follow the law. They don’t want a situation whereby we have a clash with them. They are trying their possible best to resolve the issue but they are not allowing it. Even our leaders came here but were chased away with cutlasses and bottles.’
Babatunde stressed: ‘There’s no faction among us. We have regular elections which come up every four years. If you like me you would follow me. If you don’t like me, you follow another, that’s the way elections are. But they are now using cane to chase away our supporters.’
‘Meanwhile, the man Ganiyu Oyebola boycotted the elections because he has no members, but OPC and thugs as members. All our bonafide members are here with their biometric cards which is our own identity card issued by the Union. His followers do not have identity cards, it’s because they don’t have the ID cards that they boycotted the election. Even their leader Comrade Ganiyu Oyebola doesn’t have a membership ID card. He has never been to the unit to fill his membership card with just N200 for almost 15 years. He’s definitely not part of us.’
Babatunde stressed that due to the impasse, there is little or no economic activity ongoing in the Ejigbo depot. ‘Loading is not happening in Ejigbo anymore. This problem is affecting our business. We are appealing to the Federal Government to bring fuel back so that we can commence our work. Even our national leaders have appealed to the Federal Government to back fuel to all NNPC units. Please we need help.’
He appreciated the Nigeria Police for taking necessary actions in the past 10 days. ‘They attacked us again on 16th February. Now, some of their members are currently in Kirikiri as we speak. That’s what we want, we don’t want thugs here anymore. We are saying no to thugs and OPC members in this vicinity.
Lending his voice to the matter, the Secretary of NUPENG PTD Ejigbo depot, Akeem Kelani added: ‘The situation here is not okay at all. Mr Ganiyu Oyebola is using thugs and OPC to terrorise us. The man led about 16 years ago but since then, he has never participated in the activities of the Union. We renew our membership registration every year and he has never taken part since 16 years ago. We have had past Chairmen who were elected for a period of four years. We have our Constitution for election, the elected member is to serve a four year term, after that, members could vote for your re-election. When the tenure of the last administration lapsed, there was a way of conducting the election. The election date and venue were posted here but Ganiyu Oyebola denied and boycotted the election stating he wanted to rule by force which is not normal.’
‘He’s fond of fighting everybody, he would fight NNPC staff, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), Independent Marketers Branch (IMB), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), NATO, we are all here, he fought all of them, he has no good name at all. We want the government to intervene in this matter not briefly but permanently because we are law abiding citizens.’
What they did 10 days ago, 16th February was bad, so the Police charged them to court, I don’t know if they have perfected their bail conditions.’
A member of the NUPENG PTD, Ejigbo Unit who was injured at the fight on 16th February, Adeniran Taiwo said: ‘I thank God that I am still alive today. On that fateful day, when I saw the guys, I was wondering who they were, I don’t know I was one of their targets, I heard two among them say, Oyebola (10 million) asked us to kill one person, that was when I ran but I can’t run very well because of my age. The boy who pursued me injured me with a broken bottle. People carried me to the police station to obtain a statement before being taken to hospital for treatment.’
Another injured member, Adeniyi Lukman said: ‘Last week Monday, my boss called me to prepare for Apapa for fuel loading but I had to fetch water to put inside the engine. As I was coming with the water on my head, i started seeing some known OPC faces which I know very well, and they started throwing stones and bottles towards me. A broken bottle was smashed on my forehead, that was the last I knew before I was rushed to the hospital. The guys confessed to being sent by their boss, Oyebola (10 million) to kill anyone. We were like three or four that were injured and treated in hospital.’
The NUPENG PTD Ejigbo depot is calling on the Federal Government, the Law Court, the Nigeria Police Force, and all well-meaning Nigerians to help restore stability and harmony so that they can continue their economic activities.
