By Roundoffnews
The Leadership of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Okada Tricycle Association of Ekiti State have joined the Southwest Vote Not Fight; Election No Be War campaig to call on the authorities and security agencies to take actions to forestall further violence and breakdown of law and order during elections.
The groups stressed the need for the concerned authorities to ensure that perpetrators of the evil act that occurred in Itaji Ekiti where one person was shot be arrested and prosecuted to deliver justice to the victim and also serve as deterrence to the general public.
This is contained in a statement made available to the press and signed by Comrade Kunle Asholu Owolabi of Okada Tricycle Association of Ekiti State, Mr. Akinluyi M. Kayode of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mr. Tijani Olasehinde of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the Convener of Southwest Vote Not Fight Campaign, Abimbola Aladejare-Salako.
The statement reads: “NURTW, RTEAN and Okada Union are deeply saddened by the incident that led to the loss of a member of RTEAN and we express our sincere condolences to the family of the victim while wishing a full recovery to the injured.
“Through this press release, we want to categorically state that electoral violence or violence of any sort is totally condemnable and unacceptable before, during and after elections.
“As members of the Vote Not Fight (VNF) South-west committee, the leadership of NURTW, RTEAN and Okada Union have been promoting peaceful and constructive youth engagement.
It added, ” we have mobilized and led the Vote Not Fight campaign to engage over 900 of our members across the three senatorial districts of Ekiti state during the intergenerational community dialogue against electoral violence and vote buying where communiqués and pledge cards signed and we committed to be peaceful, and law abiding during the electoral process.
“We hereby frown at the use of violence to disrupt Nigeria’s democratic processes among our members.
The groups urged members of the public to note that their members who are partisan conducted themselves peacefully and ran issue based campaigns for their principals.
According to them, the life of any individual is not worth sacrificing for anyone’s political ambition throughout the electoral process.
“We further call on all our dissatisfied members to pursue resolution of their grievances peacefully in accordance with the rule of law.
We ask them to report cases of attacks to the police and other security agencies who have pledged to be responsive.
We also appreciate the general public for maintaining peace and tranquility before, during and after the electoral process. It shows the Vote Not Fight message was well understood and embraced by all.