Union Flays Poor Treatment Of Members …Fingers NURTW

The Rivers State Trans
port and Investment co-operative Union (RTICUL), has cried out against the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Port Harcourt for the ill treatment to meted out their members.
President of RTICUL, Mr Tubonimi Wokoma, in a press briefing, told news men that the NURTW, led by Mr Boma Tom-George, was unleashing terror on its members and has prevented them from operating smoothly along the Aggrey Road-Borikiri axis of the city.
Wokoma who described the Port Harcourt branch of NURTW as impostors said, the group has illegally designated some part of Aggrey Road and Port Harcourt City as motor parks, saying they have also constituted themselves into an exploitative, extortionist, unlawful and criminal group that should be looked into.
He complained that the group had in addition to disrupting their business, imposed on their members, a daily N200.00 fee for which RTICUL had dragged them to court.
He accused the NURTW members of forcefully collecting the sum from the RTICUL members even though RTICUL members are not NURTW members stating that NURTW claims the levy is road maintaining and that they have the authority of the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council to which the NURTW paid the sum of N500,000.00.
The RTICUL boss noted that they have employed every peaceful means to make the NURTW see reason, but to no avail, explaining “we had to take the matter to court”.
He called the attention of the Rivers State Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning to the misuse of state infrastructure and the Deputy Commissioner of Police to the imminent threat to the lives of RITCUL members and the public.
The counsel RTICUL and Human Rights Advocate, Mr Higher King corroborated the story and warned NURTW to desist forthwith.
As at the time of going to press, Mr Boma Tom-George and the commissioner for urban development and physical planning could not be reached to confirm the complaint on the operation of illegal parks, respectively.

Tonye Nria-Dappa