One Dead, Scores Injured in NURTW Factional Clashes in Abuja
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
A brawl between two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Abuja Tuesday left one person dead and several others injured.
The incident, which embroiled at Sapele Crescent, off Ladoke Akintola Boulevard in Garki II, was characterized by sporadic shooting. The conflict caused pandemonium and disruption of traffic in the area.
It was gathered that violence broke out after the supporters of NURTW President, Prof. Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, marched towards the union’s national headquarters, occupied by the Lagos Park Management Committee, led by Tajudeen Badru Agbede.
The Agbede faction was said to have forcefully dislodged the Baruwa group and taken over the secretariat a few weeks ago, causing the president and the group to mobilize in an effort to forcibly displace Agbede and his group from the secretariat.
An eye witness said the group was repelled by the police, which set up a barricade and resulted in a violent confrontation. Gunshots were fired intermittently, intensifying the gravity of the crisis.
Baruwa had been seeking intervention from the police and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to resolve the situation without success
“We shall henceforth not hesitate to defend our mandate with the last drop of our blood,” he vowed.
He accused the former NURTW leaders of illegal occupation of the National Secretariat of the union.
He also faulted the former president of the union, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, and Agbede, the former National Vice-President, of holding covet meetings with selected past leaders of the union.
Baruwa also accused the police of favouritism in the saga with the Lagos Park Management Committee.
He urged the Inspector General of Police (IG), Olukayode Egbetokun and Director General of Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, to intervene in the matter.
He vowed that only a court of competent jurisdiction can invalidate their mandate while urging aggrieved members to follow due process and seek legal redress as anything to the contrary can lead to anarchy.
