The turmoil that unfolded on the 23rd of February, 2026 within the ranks of the NUPENG PTD Ejigbo depot in Lagos serves as a sobering reminder that the fight for workers’ rights must never be allowed to devolve into chaos. Nigeria’s labour movement has a proud history of courageous advocacy, but when factional or agitational protests become violent, the values that unions stand for are undermined.
What transpired on that day was a dangerous departure from peaceful civic expression that PTD NUPENG is known for. A splinter group who are majorly non members of the union loyal to Alhaji Ganiyu Oyebola, known as “10Million,” a former chairman of NUPENG PTD EJIGBO staged a protest that was aimed at forcing the hands of law enforcement agencies into doing wrong, and also to undermine the Law Court and its processes. This is a travesty of justice which should not be allowed to stand.
A brief background into the Ejigbo depot impasse reveals that there is already an upcoming election to elect new executives for the labour union. However, instead of preparing for the upcoming elections, the Oyebola-led group took to violence. They attacked the real members who showed their willingness and readiness for the elections through printing and posting posters of their preferred candidate. While they were pasting the posters in and around the Ejigbo depot on the 16th of February, 2026, they were gravely attacked.
A straightforward, peaceful electioneering process quickly degenerated into physical attacks on recognized members of the union. Several individuals were brutally injured, some left in pools of blood, and rushed to hospitals.
This violent turn of events caused the Nigeria Police Force to sweep into action and arrested everyone involved in the mayhem. The Police also swiftly charged them to court in line with the laws of the land, and the case has since been before the magistrate.
Rather than allow the law to take its process, Alhaji Ganiyu Oyebola, known as “10Million,” and his splinter group took to the streets in today’s protest. They also engaged civil society organizations who would not seek to understand the root of the matter before proceeding to protest. They are seeking to armtwist the magistrate and the Police to release thugs who were involved in the violence that led to the maiming of law-abiding citizens who are going about their civic duty to elect new executives for their labour union.
The conduct of the former chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Oyebola at the protest scene is thus troubling and shocking. Upon seeing journalists, he avoided questions and refused to explain his group’s role in the violent clashes. Leadership demands courage, especially in moments of crisis. His silence in the face of serious allegations is the evasion of true leadership.
Adding to the complexity of the situation was the involvement of a civil society organization, Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURWA) that was engaged.
A representative of the CSO stated: “We learned that two factions are clashing and one of them is on ground known and recognized as the one that has the base. Some people claimed that they were attacked, some were injured and admitted into the hospital, and they reported it at the Police station. But they are alleging that the Police appears to have been bought. It is not like the Police went to the scene; it is the people who went to the Police to report and they were reported. This is the information we gathered in our office.”
He went on to call for accountability: “Our demands are very clear. We are calling for immediate, impartial investigation into the role played by officers of the Ejigbo division and Zone D. We are calling on the leadership of Petrol Tanker Drivers to come and intervene on this matter before it degenerates into a fracas.”
If every allegation of intimidation as cited by the HURWA representative is true, will it also qualify violence and permit a staged protest that took place without the consent of the Nigeria Police Force? When actions of a group become unlawful and turn violent, they become morally unacceptable and counterproductive for the development of society.
The protest today and the previous violence have endangered the lives of fellow workers and disrupted public order. Everyone involved in the fracas must be immediately brought to justice no matter whose ox is gored. Those who were injured must get adequate medical attention for which they should not bear the cost.
The Ganiyu Oyebola-led group must be made to stop its unlawful acts and wait for the judgement of the Court. Nigeria cannot afford to let union disputes fuel societal instability.