Five people have been injured following a clash involving members of rival transport unions in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The incident, which occurred on Monday, disrupted activities around the Idi-Araba and Itakudimo areas after an alleged attack on the office of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).

The clash reportedly caused panic in the area, forcing residents and motorists to flee as the situation escalated.

A resident, Mubaraq Bello, said he and others were at home when they noticed youths disembarking from tricycles while carrying cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.

According to him, the youths moved towards the NARTO office, with some allegedly throwing stones at the building.

A NARTO member, Abubakar Olatunbosun, alleged that members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers' Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Tricycle Owners' Association of Nigeria (TOAN) attacked NARTO members while they were heading to the police headquarters in Ilorin.

Olatunbosun appealed to the Kwara State Government to intervene, saying NARTO members remained committed to maintaining peace and would not take the law into their own hands.

He also alleged that more than 100 tricycles belonging to NARTO members had been seized by rival unions.

One of the victims, Abdulwasiu Jamiu, alleged that members of the unions attacked them, seized their tricycles and injured some of them.

Another victim, Lukman Iyanda, reportedly sustained a broken hand after he was attacked while operating his tricycle around the Itakudimo axis.

However, a member of RTEAN, who spoke anonymously, alleged that NARTO was an unregistered association and was not recognised by the government.

Representatives of the other unions involved in the dispute were unavailable for comment at the time of filing this report.

The cause of the dispute and the circumstances surrounding the alleged seizure of the tricycles could not be independently verified.