On Tuesday, May 30, 2023 , what had begun as a peaceful day turned bloody when officers of the Oyo Police Command raided the hotel of Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxiliary, a notorious warlord and leader of transport workers in the state.
The raid of the hotel occurred a day after Governor Seyi Makinde removed Auxiliary as the chairman of the Park Management System (PMS) in the Southwestern Nigerian city.
Makinde said he acted on the complaints by residents who said Auxiliary and his thugs made the state ungovernable during his first four-year term as governor of Oyo State.
According to the Police, it raided Auxiliary’s abode the following day based on a security intelligence report on the plan of his thugs to threaten the peace of the state in retaliation to the removal of their leader.
Though Auxiliary escaped during the raid, one of his thugs died in a gun duel with the security operatives. The police also recovered some ammunition and charms from the residence.
The ammunition were said to be acquired to cause violence during the last general elections. Days after the raid, police declared Auxiliary wanted.
History of violence in Ibadan
Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, has a long history of violence involving road transport workers under the umbrella of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
They are typically at bus stops and motor parks, and sometimes in front of shops and construction sites, demanding money illegally. The ones at the bus stops and parking lots collect tolls, by a variety of means, from all public transporters.
The NURTW leadership makes millions from collecting transport taxes from drivers of commercial buses, tricycles, and motorcycles. The luxury attached to holding key positions like chairman of a park or executive member at the state level is always the reason for their repeated clashes, especially between 2003 and 2011
They dominated Iwo-road, Ojoo, and Olomi areas of the state capital. Apart from killing their members, some innocent citizens were not spared. Lives and limbs were lost.
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Over 10 people, including President of the Nigerian Medical Students, were killed after two factions of the union embroiled in leadership tussle, wielded dangerous weapons freely in 2011. The union was, thereafter, proscribed by late Governor Isiaka Ajimobi as some of the leaders fingered in the crisis served jail terms. One of them is Isiaka Lamidi aka Auxiliary.
Makinde empowers ex-convict
Makinde shocked many residents of the state in 2019 when he reappointed Auxiliary as leader of Oyo road transport workers under the banner of Park Management System (PMS).
After eight years of peace, thugs became popular on Ibadan roads as they cause mayhem on a daily basis. At some points, many regard Auxiliary as the deputy governor of Oyo because of his highhandedness.
In February 2021, three people were killed and many others injured when the park managers had a leadership crisis.
Also, six persons were reportedly killed in a gang war in June 2021, forcing angry youths to march to the Government House, Agodi Gate, and the governor’s office carrying the remains of a victim killed in the violence.
The aggrieved persons were left frustrated as Governor Makinde did not attend to them. The situation remains the same as many continue to lose their lives and properties to the deadly activities of Auxiliary and his thugs.
The development in Oyo, according to public affairs analysts, shows the government’s tolerance to the activities of the thugs.
A resident of Iyana Church area of Ibadan who spoke under anonymity because of retaliation said there was always tension when the thugs engaged in violence as people were forced to stay indoors in my area.
“We have known no peace since the return of the road transport workers union in 2019. It is one week, one trouble,” a food seller at Iwo-road said.
As lives continue to be at risk, how does Makinde intend to stop this trend?
