The leadership crisis rocking the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has taken a new twist as the Nigerian police have detained the President of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, and three other national officers in Abuja.
The police also allowed a rival faction led by Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, to take over the union’s secretariat by force.
According to SaharaReporters, Baruwa and his team were invited to a meeting by the FCT Commissioner of Police, Haruna Garba, on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by MC Oluomo, who was the former head of the dissolved Lagos Park Management Committee.
However, the meeting turned out to be a trap as Baruwa and his colleagues were arrested and taken to the notorious SARS facility in Guzape.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Park Management Committee led by Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede stormed the union’s secretariat in Garki 2 on August 28, 2023, and violently ejected the national officers and staff. The attack was carried out under the protection of armed security agents who were deployed to guard the premises.
Baruwa had previously alerted the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) about the plot by MC Oluomo’s group to launch a violent attack on the secretariat but his pleas were ignored.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned the police interference in the internal affairs of NURTW and other unions. The NLC has given the police 48 hours to vacate the secretariat or face a shutdown.
The NLC has also affirmed its support for the Baruwa-led leadership, which it said is legally elected. It has warned that any attempt to upturn the governance of the transport union could lead to violence.
