Tension turned deadly in the Alaba Rago area of Iba, Lagos State, on Sunday following a violent clash between road transport workers, commonly known as agberos, and supporters of a local monarch.
The conflict, which reportedly erupted in the early hours of the day, claimed the life of an unidentified passenger who was fatally struck by a speeding vehicle while attempting to cross the road near the scene of the chaos.
Eyewitnesses said the confrontation stemmed from the recent commissioning of a motor park allegedly built by the monarch to serve vehicles bound for northern and eastern Nigeria.
“A park was unveiled by the monarch on Saturday at the Alaba Market side for vehicles heading to the North and East,” a resident identified simply as Shola told our correspondent. “But the agberos opposed it. There’s been friction over who controls the park. The Commissioner of Police even visited the site.”
According to locals, the agberos saw the new park as a direct threat to their revenue collection system and reportedly confronted the monarch’s loyalists on Sunday morning.
“During the clash, a passenger trying to cross the road got hit by a fast-moving vehicle and died instantly,” another resident, Abbey, recounted on Monday.
Videos from the scene showed a large crowd of onlookers, with the victim’s body lying in a pool of blood. In one clip, residents were seen covering the corpse with a wrapper.
In response, Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, said efforts were being made to restore calm.
“The Commissioner of Police was at the scene on Sunday for an on-the-spot assessment and also held a meeting with all involved parties on Monday at the command headquarters in Ikeja to resolve the dispute,” he stated.
This incident adds to the growing list of violent confrontations involving transport union members across Lagos and its environs.
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A similar clash occurred in late 2023 between commercial motorcyclists and agberos in Akute and Alagbole, Ogun State, reportedly resulted in several deaths.
