By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Placard-carrying petroleum tanker drivers on Tuesday, 24 February, 2026 converged at the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Office in Ejigbo, Lagos, chanting solidarity songs and demanding the release of four detained colleagues, as the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA) accused sections of the union leadership and the police of alleged complicity and abuse of power.
The protest, held at the PTD office in Ejigbo, followed a petition and press release issued by HURMA, which claimed that a protracted intra-union crisis within the PTD Ejigbo Unit had culminated in arrests, court proceedings and the continued detention of four drivers at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre.
Demonstrators displayed various placards stating their grievances while repeatedly chanting, “Solidarity forever, we shall always fight for our rights.”
Addressing journalists at the scene, HURMA’s Executive Director, Comrade Buna Olaitan Isiak, said the organisation was compelled to intervene after receiving what he described as credible information about the dispute and subsequent police actions.
He alleged that the crisis stemmed from attempts to frustrate the conduct of elections within the Ejigbo unit.
“We are here calling the attention of the public on the matter concerning the protracted intra-union crisis within the petroleum tanker drivers’ unit and how the police has been allegedly used as instruments of oppression,” Isiak said.
He contended that the conflict, allegedly involving the South-West zonal leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), had degenerated into open confrontation.
According to him, reports available to HURMA indicated that violence broke out following disagreements between rival factions within the unit.
“We have received credible information that the fracas was initiated by some individuals within a faction of the PTD allegedly acting in concert with the South-West zonal leadership,” he stated.
Isiak further alleged that the four detained drivers were arrested under questionable circumstances after reporting an incident at Ejigbo Police Station.
“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,” he said.
HURMA identified the detained individuals as Kabiru Taiye Salami, Kazeem Adeniran, Saheed Alegbeleye and Oladeji Rahmon. The organisation claimed that the men were subsequently taken before different magistrate courts before a detention order was secured.
“It is further alleged that they were taken before different magistrate courts, moving from one court to another until a detention order was obtained under stringent and questionable conditions,” Isiak said, adding that the drivers were now being held at Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre.
He expressed concern over what he described as possible misconduct by officers attached to Zone D of the Lagos State Police Command.
“The circumstances surrounding their arrest and continued detention suggest possible complicity and abuse of power,” he said, warning that the development could heighten tensions within the union.
Consequently, HURMA called for an immediate and impartial investigation into the role played by the police.
“Our first demand is an immediate and impartial investigation into the role played by officers at Ejigbo Police Station and Zone D, Lagos State Command,” Isiak declared.
He also demanded appropriate disciplinary measures against any officer found culpable, alongside the immediate release of the detained drivers pending what he termed a transparent review of the allegations against them.
“Swift action is necessary in the interest of justice, fairness and the protection of fundamental rights,” he added.
Providing further clarification, Isiak rejected suggestions that the arrests resulted from a routine police response to a clash.
“It wasn’t that people were fighting and the police came to make arrests. Some individuals who claimed they were attacked went to the police station to report, and those were the ones detained,” he said.
Also speaking at the protest ground, a former PTD coordinator in Ejigbo, Jimoh Abdurrahman, attributed the lingering dispute to disagreements over union leadership and elections. He alleged that attempts had been made to impose executives on members of the unit.
“What really happened was that our zonal leader, especially the Lagos zonal leadership, wanted to impose executives on us, of which we said no. They should come and arrange for free and fair elections,” Abdurrahman said.
He traced the crisis back to 2022, noting that the tenure of the former executive had expired without fresh elections being conducted.
“The former executive was supposed to expire in March 2022. Since that time, they refused to organise proper elections,” he claimed.
Abdurrahman further alleged that tensions escalated after members of his faction were attacked at their base, prompting the four detained drivers to report the matter to the police.
“Our four members went to the police station to report the attack that happened here. Surprisingly, they were referred to Zone D, detained and later taken to court,” he said.
It was In the light of this, throughout the demonstration, protesters maintained their chants and insisted on their demands, framing the rally as a call for justice, internal union reforms and the release of their detained colleagues.
