*Factional Leader Arraigned Over Take Over
A FACTIONAL leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, whose stay in office has been declared illegal by the Court of Appeal, has regained control of the union’s national secretariat in Abuja, following the Police dislodgement of Tajudeen Baruwa, another leader.
The Police Force (NPF), on Monday, March 23, arrested and arraigned Tajudeen Baruwa, who led members of his faction to take control of the national secretariat of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Abuja.
A statement by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh (SP), said Baruwa was arraingned before Magistrates’ Court 1, Wuse Zone 2, alongside six others, over the violence at the headquarters.
Adeh listed the seven suspects as Sulaiman A. Musa; Nasiru Ibrahim; Sadisu Musa; Dalha Suleiman; Abdullahi Garba; Saheed Fojebi; and Baruwa, who were arrested at the scene.
The Command had on Monday, described videos circulating on social media alleging Police involvement in a shooting at the union’s headquarters in Garki II, Abuja, as false and misleading, insisting its officers only intervened to restore order after receiving a distress call.
Adeh explained that the Command received a report about 7 a.m. on March 23, that about 300 individuals, armed with cutlasses, bottles, bows and arrows, had stormed the headquarters and were removing items from the premises.
She stated that the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of Operations, Isyaku Sharu, led a response team to the scene, where preliminary investigations showed that the group attempted to enforce a court order without the presence of court sheriffs and other authorised officials, an action that degenerated into a free for all, when other union members resisted the move.
Baruwa and his supporters had stormed the union’s headquarters earlier in the day, wresting control from the Oluomo faction, before authorities moved in and arrested him.
Members of the NURTW had elected Oluomo as National President in November 2024, but a court subsequently ruled in Baruwa’s favour, the basis for Monday’s events.
In a video shared on X on Tuesday, Oluomo was seen assessing the damaged property in the secretariat after regaining control.
In a statement later posted on his Instagram page on Monday, Oluomo dismissed Baruwa’s forceful takeover, insisting that he remains the national president of the union, saying the matter was pending in court.
In November 2024, the Court of Appeal (Abuja Division), affirmed Baruwa as NURTW National President, upholding the earlier judgment of the National Industrial Court (NIC), which had reinstated him in March for a second term.
Justice O.O. Oyewumi of the NIC had affirmed the legitimacy of the zonal delegates’ conference where Baruwa was re-elected on May 24, 2023, and also recognised the quadrennial national delegates’ conference held on August 23, 2023, as the valid assembly for inaugurating national officers.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Najeem Yasin, Tajudeen Agbede and others, who claimed leadership of the union, filed an appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/293/2024, challenging the NIC decision recognising Baruwa as president.
However, in a judgment delivered on November 8, a three-member panel of Justices, led by Hamma Barka, dismissed the appeal and awarded N100,000 in costs against the appellants.
The ruling also nullified Oluomo’s election as union president at the union’s zonal secretariat in Osun State on November 9.
Baruwa said his action was backed by the two court judgments delivered in his favour, adding that he had formally notified the Police before the move, but their response was disappointing.
