Ondo suspends activities of NURTW, RTEAN

The Ondo State Government has suspended the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers of Nigeria (RTEAN) in the state.

Dr. Doyin Odebowale, Senior Special Assistant  (SSA) to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Special Duties and Strategies, said on Monday in Akure that the suspension was with immediate effect.

Odebowale, who spoke at a news conference, also said that tickets, hitherto sold by NURTW officials, would henceforth be sold to commercial motorists by officials of the state government.

The SSA, who insisted that taxi fares must be brought back to the normal rates, lamented the alarming increase in transport fares in the state.

Our Correspondent reports that the taxi union in the state recently increased taxi fares by 100 per cent from N50 to N100, as a result of an alleged increase in the price of the various tickets they buy from NURTW on daily basis.

“Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has given the directive that fares be reduced to their normal rates with immediate effect.

“The state government will not allow any act of lawlessness, therefore, security agencies have been put on the red alert to enforce law and order in all parts of the state.

“Nobody is above the law and anyone who violates the law will face the consequences of his action”, he added.

Odebowale, who expressed regrets at the spate of unruly behaviours often exhibited by members of the associations at state functions and events, said the government could no longer put up with such an embarrassing show of shame.