Tuesday, February 17 2026 - Members of the Nigerian Union of Haulage Truck and Trailer Drivers on Monday staged a peaceful protest over alleged harassment, brutality and extortion by operatives of the Lagos State Taskforce and other traffic enforcement agencies.
According to Punch, the protest was triggered by the alleged
assault of one of their members during a night operation in an industrial area
of Ikeja on Saturday— an incident they claimed nearly cost him his life.
Carrying placards bearing the photograph of their injured
colleague, Comrade Prince Ogunkanmi Adekunle, the protesters displayed messages
such as, “Lagos State Government help us, we are dying oo!” and “Enough of
trailer drivers’ brutality.”
The union’s National Chairman, Okunola Omogbolahan, accused
operatives of the Lagos State Task Force, the Vehicle Inspection Office and the
Lagos State Traffic Management Authority of targeting truck and trailer drivers
for extortion under the guise of enforcement.
According to him, the alleged harassment had persisted for
years, resulting in the deaths of several drivers.
“We are here to complain about task force brutality and
harassment. They almost took the life of one of our members. We thank God he is
still alive, and that is why we want this matter escalated,” Omogbolahan said.
“This has been happening for many years. Many truck and
trailer drivers have suffered, and we have buried several of them. We have come
together to say enough is enough.”
He maintained that members of the union were law-abiding
citizens striving to earn a living.
“We are not criminals. We work overnight because of the
nature of our job, yet we are treated like offenders even when we have
committed no wrong,” he added.
Recounting the incident that allegedly sparked the protest,
Omogbolahan said Adekunle was attacked around 1.30am on Saturday while resting
inside his truck near the Guinness gate in Ikeja, where he was waiting to load
goods.
“He was inside his truck when someone knocked on the door.
Before he knew what was happening, the person forced his way in and attempted
to seize the key. When the driver stepped down to ask questions, he was
attacked,” he alleged.
He further claimed that the operatives often arrived in
buses or Hilux vans, sometimes accompanied by suspected hoodlums, and would
beat up drivers before towing their vehicles.
“They don’t initially state any offence. They come around
midnight, beat up the driver and seize the truck. When you get to Alausa, they
accuse you of illegal parking and demand between N600,000 and N700,000 for
offences you did not commit,” he alleged, adding that drivers were typically
parked within industrial zones and not obstructing major roads.
Narrating his experience, Adekunle said he mistook the man
who knocked on his door for a traffic marshal.
“When I opened the door, he jumped inside and started
dragging my key. I shouted ‘thief’ because I didn’t recognise him. They beat me
up and hit me with a gun. They took my vehicle to their office in Alausa and
detained me,” he said.
He further alleged that officers fired shots to disperse
other drivers who attempted to intervene.
“They later returned my key and vehicle that same night
after seeing the extent of my injuries,” he claimed.
Another driver, Ojewole Samuel, alleged that some private
company security personnel colluded with enforcement operatives to target
truckers parked near their premises due to limited parking space.
“Many companies in Ikeja do not provide adequate parking for
trucks. Drivers are left waiting outside, and we believe some security men
alerted the task force. Their goal appears to be extortion, not orderliness,”
he alleged.
Samuel claimed that some drivers were forced to pay cash and
surrender fuel before their trucks were released.
“In one night, they can make between N100,000 and N150,000.
A driver told us he paid N30,000 and was made to sell 60 litres of diesel
before his truck was released, even though he was not blocking traffic,” he
said.
The protesters said they turned to the media after repeated
complaints to authorities allegedly yielded no results, warning that they would
seek legal redress if the situation persisted.
Responding to the allegations, the Director of Press and
Public Affairs of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special
Offences, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, said he was unaware of the incident.
“I am hearing this for the first time. There are many
individuals impersonating our officers. We need to be certain that those
involved are genuinely from the Lagos State Taskforce,” he said.
Abdulraheem urged the aggrieved drivers to file a formal
complaint at the agency’s headquarters, adding that efforts were ongoing to
clamp down on impersonators.
However, when contacted, the Lagos State Commissioner for
Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, declined to respond over the phone, stating
that official inquiries should be channelled through his office or the
ministry’s Public Relations Officer.
“I don’t know who I’m speaking to. You can’t just call me on
the phone and expect that I’ll have a conversation. I don’t know the person I’m
speaking to; you must be introduced as somebody I know. Do you understand?
“I can’t just pick up my phone and start getting this. The
appropriate thing to do is to contact my PRO, or you can visit my office. I
can’t just pick up the phone and start talking to someone I’ve never spoken to
before,” Osiyemi said in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.
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