NURTW Takes over Lagos Police Job as Commuters Groan in Gridlock

Matilda Omonaiye/

Officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have been busy on Lagos roads controlling heavy traffic in the absence of police officers who are still licking their wounds following deadly attacks on officers and stations by Nigerians protesting against police brutality.

As Lagos, Nigeria’s economic honeypot is crawling back to life after suffering widespread destruction of public utilities worth billions of naira in the hands of the protesters, traffic officers and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) stayed indoors and most parts of the state faced harrowing gridlocks that led NURTW officials taking up traffic control on major roads.

The officials wearing vests marked NURTW Traffic Unit stayed on the road all day with some of them wielding planks to beat erring motorists into line. Most of the officials looked fatigued towards the evening time, as observed by NewsmakersNG on Tuesday.