Scores injured as NURTW clash in Ile-Ife

Several people were yesterday seriously injured while commercial activities were paralysed for several hours during  violent  clashes involving two rival groups of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Ile-Ife.
Though the immediate cause of the clash could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, reliable sources close to the union of commercial transporters in Ife said the groups involved in the mayhem are NURTW Ife intra-city unit and NURTW Lagos/Ibadan unit.
A resident of Oduduwa roundabout area in Ife, who preferred anonymity, while explaining what could have led to the clash, said mini-buses drivers operating within Ife metropolis and their colleagues plying Lagos/Ibadan have for long harboured ill-feelings against each other.
According to him, the Ibadan/Lagos drivers were said to have been complaining about the manner the mini-buses drivers operate, which they said was having negative effects on their business.
While the casualties on both sides of the crisis could not be confirmed, top security sources told our correspondent that members of Inter city unit were regrouping for a reprisal attack.