Police arrest Baruwa after attempt to enforce court judgement that affirmed him NURTW president 

Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, the court-recognised president of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), has been arrested by operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command alongside some of his supporters.

SaharaReporters reports that the arrest occurred after Baruwa and his team arrived at the NURTW national headquarters in Abuja to enforce a court ruling affirming him as the authentic president of the union.

The situation reportedly turned violent, with one of his supporters shot and several others assaulted by police personnel deployed in the scene.

SaharaReporters reports that Baruwa arrived at the NURTW headquarters on Monday morning but was resisted by police personnel, who reportedly assaulted him and his supporters.

Officers were said to have fired teargas to disperse the crowd, while one person was reportedly shot during the chaos.

Following the confrontation and reported shooting, Baruwa was arrested by the police, although his whereabouts remained unclear.

Before his arrest, Baruwa had addressed journalists at the union’s national headquarters, flanked by supporters from across the country. He maintained that his actions were backed by two court judgments delivered in his favour.

He added that the union had formally notified the police, attaching copies of the judgments to facilitate the recovery of the secretariat.

However, he said the response from authorities was not encouraging, prompting the union to issue a fresh notice declaring its intention to take over the office and resume duties in compliance with the court rulings.

Baruwa said, “Their body language has not been encouraging despite repeated assurance that we are not going back to foment any trouble as we are a law-abiding union whose only mission is to get back what belonged to them.

“But today, as you can see, we are taking over in a peaceful manner, and it is not a forceful takeover but just carrying out the court’s orders.

“Again, please be aware that our coming here after two years is to occupy our office, having obtained judgments at both the lower court and the Appeal Court, but they refused to obey court orders after waiting for about two years. We decided to resume back at the office today without causing any violence, and here we are.”

“Although the other faction attacked one of our members, who is now in the hospital, the situation is under control. We are still open to reconciliation as we are a lawful organization and not a troublemaker. No one is above the law,” he said.