A high court sitting in Niger state has awarded the sum of N1 billion damages against the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) over the blockade of some roads in September 2021 in the state.
The unions had blocked Bida-Lambata, Bida-Minna and Lambata-Minna Roads, all in Niger state.
Consequently, Dan Almajiri Initiative, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), filed a case against the unions, criticising the poor state of the roads and demanding compensation.
The damages, according to the organisation, were for the difficulties to the public, particularly road users, caused by the three-day jam on the aforementioned roadways.
According to Leadership, Abdullahi Mika’ilu, the judge, in his judgement, ordered the award of N500 million for exemplary damages and another N500 million for economic hardship against the road transport workers.
The judge however struck out the names of the fourth to the sixth respondents — the Niger state government, the governor and the attorney-general of the state respectively, joined in the case.