Some commercial bus drivers have appealed to the Delta Government to intervene in the disagreement between them and the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Chairman, Self-employed Bus Drivers Association of Nigeria (SEBDAN), Warri, Mr Jacob Owviri, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Warri at the weekend.
Owviri accused the NURTW in the city of harassing and intimidating members of his association while on duty.
He told NAN that the squabble between the two bodies started in 2013 over allegations of anti-union activities levelled against members of SEBDAN.
According to him, the NURTW has subjected drivers and owners of commercial buses to undue monetary extortion.
He said that situation compelled them to form and register SEBDAN with the Corporate Affairs Commission in January.
‘’We were made to cough out about N4,000 daily as ticket fee to the NURTW,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Secretary of SEBDAN, Mr Emmanuel Sotu, said that the association made several appeals to the NURTW to reduce the daily fee, but it refused.
‘’After series of consultations with the union, they reduced the fee by only N100; they have said that we will not operate in this state,” he said.
Sotu appealed to the state government to prevail on the NURTW to allow bus owners and drivers in Warri to do their legitimate business in the interest of peace.
Responding, the Chairman of NURTW in Warri, Mr Joachim Osevwerhea, said the allegations by SEBDAN were false.
According to him, every commercial bus driver in the city pays only N400 as daily ticket fee.
He said that as an organised union, the NURTW was committed to the well-being of its members and would not engage in activities capable of making life difficult for them.
The chairman said that the union was committed to the protection of the rights of its members
He told NAN that some members of SEBDAN wanted to be part of NURTW executive, but failed because they did not adopt the proper procedure.
‘’Because we did not allow them to be part of the NURTW executive, they went ahead to form a union and began to intimidate our members on the roads.
‘’They removed our stickers from the vehicles of our members, forced them to buy their own tickets and dispossessed them of their valuables.
Osevwerhea, however, said that the union would accept any member of SEBDAN who wanted to join his union again.
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