Rights group protests ‘continued detention’ of four tanker drivers in Lagos
The Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA) has urged the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu and Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, to release and investigate the circumstances surrounding the
- By Sherifdeen Amusa
The Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA) has urged the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu and Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, to release and investigate the circumstances surrounding the detention of four Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre, Lagos.
HURMA’s Director, Comrade Buna Olaitan Isiak, made the call at a protest at the Ejigbo PTD Office, NNPC Depot, Ejigbo, Lagos,
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The drivers are Kabiru Salami, Kazeem Adeniran, Saheed Alegbeleye and Oladeji Rahmon.
Isiak said the drivers had reported that they were attacked by a faction of the PTD at Ejigbo Police Station but were allegedly arrested, arraigned and remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Lagos.
“We are deeply concerned that when both parties reported the incident at Ejigbo Police Station, the officers on duty allegedly arrested the four members who had gone to report the matter. It is further alleged that they were taken before different magistrate courts until a detention order was obtained under stringent and questionable conditions. The said individuals are being held at Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre,” he said.
Isiak warned that failure to address the issue might further inflame tensions and threaten industrial harmony and public peace in Lagos State.
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He alleged that their arrest and continued detention suggest possible complicity and abuse of power by officers of Zone D, Lagos State Police Command.
HURMA alleged that the crisis that led to the incarceration of the four could be traced to the refusal of the the Southwest Zonal leadership of PTD, in conjunction with the umbrella body, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), to conduct a free and fair election to choose new executives after the tenure of the former executives had elapsed.
HURMA demanded the immediate and impartial investigation into the role played by officers at Ejigbo Police Station and Zone D, Lagos State Police Command; appropriate disciplinary measures against any officer found culpable of misconduct or abuse of office; and the release of the detained PTD members pending a review of the allegations against them.
A former coordinator of PTD in Ejigbo, Jimoh Abdurrahman, said the crisis had lingered since 2022 following the expiration of the former executive’s tenure in March 2022 and attempt by Lagos Zonal leaders of PTD to impose new executives on members without conducting a free and fair election which was opposed by members led to the intra-union fracas.
Abdurrahman lamented that those who went to report the matter at the station were detained and subsequently arraigned in court the following day, while the accused faction were allegedly released.
