Lagos State TOOAN Chairman, Istijaba Denies Claim Of Gun Recovery From His Car

MICHAEL AKINOLA

The Lagos State Chairman of Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria (TOOAN), Alhaji Azeez Abiola, popularly known as Istijaba, has regained freedom after his arrest yesterday by the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the State Police Command.

RRS had arrested Istijaba and four suspects for attempting to cause mayhem in Agege, while a pump action gun was recovered in the area.

He was arrested while leading a team of supporters to the state headquarters of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Agege, an action which the authority believed would trigger violence and chaos in other parts of the metropolis.

All the suspects arrested have since been released.

Narrating his ordeal, Istijaba accused the State NURTW Chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo) of masterminding a failed assassination attempt on him.

He said a day after his emergence as State TOOAN Chairman, he was invited to a meeting at the State NURTW headquarters in Agege, and that while he was filling the attendance form, some touts supervised by MC Oluomo swooped on him and started hitting him.

He said he managed to rush back to his car and locked the door while he heard one of them saying the car should be burnt down with him inside, but another person advised against it.

Eventually, Istijaba said the RRS officers got to the scene, while his car was thoroughly searched without any gun being recovered from his car.

He was later taken to RRS headquarters in Alausa, after which he claimed that an officer brought a gun and said it was recovered within the area of the incident.

He accused Mc Oluomo of moving against him for emerging as TOOAN Chairman, which he said was at variance with MC Oluomo’s desire to control the association.

However, it was gathered that some interests within the state NURTW were against the imposition of Istijaba led executive by the national body without recourse to the state which is said to be the norm.