Ex-Tanker Drivers Chair, Others Sent To Prison For Beating NUPENG President, Scribe

Former national chairman of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Lucky Osesua; his deputy, Dayyabu Yusuf Garga, and one Humble Obinna have been remanded at Keffi Correctional Facility in Nasarawa State.

They were arrested and arraigned and subsequently remanded following their alleged physical assaults on NUPENG president, Comrade Williams Akporeha; general secretary, Wale Afolabi, and the newly elected national chairman of PTD-NUPENG, Augustine Egbon, respectively. 

 The three NUPENG chiefs who had been on indefinite suspension by the national secretariat of the union were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court 5, Wuse Zone 2, on Thursday  for attempted murder, homicide, attempted arson, destruction of property and disturbance of public peace.

The NUPENG president and general secretary were said to have accompanied the new PTD national chairman, Comrade Egbon, and other members of his executive to the union’s national secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday at the end of a special delegates conference for the PTD  branch of NUPENG in Ibadan where Comrade Egbon and  others emerged as national officers of PTD- NUPENG.

 The fresh election followed a judgement delivered by Justice Bashar Alkali of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, in the Yenagoa Judicial Division, Bayelsa State, which nullified the election of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of NUPENG conducted on June 30, 2O22 in Ibadan by NUPENG.

Speaking with journalists at the weekend, general secretary, Wale Afolabi, who was one of the national officers assaulted alleged that the physical assaults on the national officers were orchestrated by the former national officers displaced by the judgment of Justice Alkali.

He noted that they proceeded to conduct a parallel election in Abuja in contravention of the Bye Law of the branch and constitution of the union. 

He stated: “At the end of the peaceful elections new leaders emerged for the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of NUPENG and in line with the tradition and practices of the union, on the day after the elections, Wednesday, 1st November 2023, the president of the union,  Comrade Williams Akporeha, and the general secretary of the union, together with the chairman of the caretaker committee set up after of the court dissolution of the former executive, decided to escort six principal officers of the newly elected executive of the branch to the branch’s office in Abuja.”

“We all boarded Green Africa Airline, 8.05 am flight, from Ibadan to Abuja and we landed at 9.15 am, after which we all proceeded in two different cars to the office. The car conveying the president, general secretary and the new branch national chairman arrived in the PTD office gate at about 10.45 am without knowing that some assailants and thugs armed with dangerous weapons were already laying in waiting for our arrival, This group was being led by Mr Lucky Osesua, Mr Dayyabu Yusuf Garga and Mr Peter Moudebelu. 

“These assailants viciously attacked the team of Comrade Williams Akporeha. My humble self who is the general secretary of the union was seriously wounded and the same vicious treatment was meted to Comrade Solomon Kilanko. They stole valuables, including wrist watches, money, shoes and telephones from our team.

“Eventually, I was rescued and rushed to Zamkli Medical Centre in Mabushi while others were scattered around with various injuries. Comrade Augustine Egbon, the new chairman escaped into the nearby PTD hotel and these assailants traced him into his hiding and broke into his room, beat him mercilessly and dragged him from 3rd floor to the ground floor and he was left unconscious right here In Abuja. It was indeed a gory and terrifying experience for a 68-year-old man.

“However when the matter was reported at FCT Police Command, only Mr Lucky Osesua, Humble Obinna and Mr Dayyabu Yusuf Garga were arrested and subsequently charged to Court for attempted murder, homicide, attempted arson, destruction of property and disturbance of public peace. They are currently remanded in Keffi Prison.”

Afolabi further said there were still many of the suspected assailants on the prowl, threatening to burn down the union offices across the country and hotel, adding that much more terrifying is the threats to their lives and those of their families.