The drivers said the inhumane treatment meted on them occurred in Badagry, Ojodu Berger, Iyana-Era and Ijanikin areas of Lagos.
The African Action Congress (AAC) Lagos State Chapter and its governorship candidate, Akeem Olayiwola, have condemned an alleged attack on some commercial drivers in Lagos State under the aegis of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) by hoodlums working for the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led state government.
JDWAN had said its members faced physical assaults, abduction and vandalisation of property by some motor park touts in Lagos on Monday, in the cause of the ongoing seven days strike action.
The drivers said the inhumane treatment meted on them occurred in Badagry, Ojodu Berger, Iyana-Era and Ijanikin areas of Lagos.
Narrating the incidents in a statement, JDWAN National Leader, Akintade Abiodun, vowed that the strike action would continue till November 6, to press home their demands from the state government.
Reacting to the attack, Olayiwola and the spokesperson of AAC in a joint statement described the ruling All Progressives Congress as an oppressive, imperialistic party that was bent on subjugating people of Lagos and Nigeria at large under their corrupt and inept dictatorial rule.
The said thugs who were groomed to help maintain APC’s failing political dominance had turned Lagos state into a den of disorder, where human and constitutional rights were blatantly scorned on.
The statement read, “It has come to our knowledge at AAC Lagos that the Lagos state-sponsored thugs disguised as Transportation Parks and Garages Management Committee led by Musiliu Akinsanya aka “MC Oluomo” are actively trying the demobilise and demoralise the members of the JDWAN on the seven-day strike they embark on starting today.
“One of JDWAN drivers, Ashimiyu Idowu in the Iworo area of Badagry was kidnapped, tortured and released, by a team of motor park thugs led by Telliat Gbadamosi (Chairman of motor park management from Agbara to Seme) in Telliat's and JAFO (Oniba of Iba) vehicles. We also have on good authority that his mobile phone was confiscated by the state sponsored thugs. The thugs also had over 100 bikes with three on each bike. They had guns and shot sporadically.
“AAC and the gubernatorial candidate Akeem Olayiwola condemn this art of barbarism perpetuated by Tinubu’s Thugs, who have been groomed to help maintain his already failing political dominance in Lagos state. They have turned Lagos state into a den of disorder, where human and constitutional rights are blatantly scorned on. Sanwo-Olu who has proven to be the figurehead or proxy of the real government of Lagos is also culpable because he is actively using the police force in Lagos to protect the barbarism of these thugs.
“We want to remind the APC government which claims to govern and not rule, that it is the constitutional right of these transport workers to protest in whatever manner they choose. These workers have not barricaded the roads like they claimed EndSARS protesters did. Rather, they chose to boycott the road today by resting at home. Even with this commendable peace resistance to the oppression and extortion of the Tinubu-led Transportation Parks and Garages Management Committee by proxy of Musiliu Akinsanya aka “MC Oluomo”, these drivers are still being targetted, brutalized, and threatened.
“This further proves that the APC party is an oppressive, imperialistic party that is bent on subjugation the People of Lagos and Nigeria at large under their corrupt and inept dictatorial rule. The APC party mirrors the colonial oppressor who was famous for corruption, oppression, extortion, and violent crackdown on mass protest. Some of the most memorable are the Aba women's mass demonstration and the 1945 Nigerian general strike. In both instances, the colonial government employed targeted kidnapping, neutralizing, imprisonment, and mass killings. With the help of Sanwo-Olu police force and Tinubu thugs, APC has succeeded in marching the criminal records of the colonial rulers and intends to surpass them.
“It is on this note that we call on the Sanwo- Olu the tenant of Tinubu, for the sake of posterity, to do the right thing and at once order the police force in Lagos to immediately launch an investigation into the kidnapping and brutalization of Ashimiyu Idowu. Musiliu Akinsanya aka “MC Oluomo” and Gbadamosi. (Chairman motor park management from agbara to seme) should be called in for questioning about the weapons in their possession and prosecuted for being an accomplice to the crime again Ashimiyu Idowu, disturbance of public peace and confiscating of Ashimiyu Idowu mobile phone.
“Lastly, the AAC party remains the total solidarity with the Joint Driver Workers Association of Nigeria (JDWAN). Martin Luther King Jnr who said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty of the bad people but the salience over that by the good people”. For this reason, we employ all civil groups, society, and good people of Lagos and Nigeria to join the boycott.”