Police Hold Tajudeen Baruwa Over Attempt To Enforce Court Judgement Against Tinubu Protege MC Oluomo In Takeover Of NURTW Secretariat
The police in Abuja have arrested Alhaji Tajudeen Baruwa after he led members of his faction to take over the National Secretariat of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s supporter, MC Oluomo.
Sources online said a Baruwa supporter was shot by police in the ensuing confusion.
The attempted takeover came following a ruling by the National Industrial Court which, on March 12, ordered MC Oluomo to vacate the office of the union’s president and directed Baruwa to assume leadership of the union.
Security sources confirmed that Baruwa and his supporters had moved to enforce the court order when law enforcement agents intervened, leading to his arrest.
Baruwa, the court-recognised president of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), was arrested on Monday by operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command alongside some of his supporters.
The arrest occurred when 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 to the scene.
The development follows a prior ruling by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja, which ordered officials of a rival faction of the union, including the management team led by Musiliu Akinsanya, to vacate the union’s national secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory.
In the judgment delivered on March 6, 2026, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/203/2025, Justice E. D. Subilim directed that the claimants led by Baruwa take immediate control of the union’s affairs.
The court further ordered that the defendants and anyone occupying the office through them vacate the premises and hand over possession to Baruwa’s leadership.
The court also directed the defendants to hand over all union property, documents, and facilities within the office to the leadership recognised by the court. In addition, it restrained them and their agents from collecting tickets or levies from union members nationwide.
The judgment was expected to restore full control of the Abuja secretariat to the leadership led by Baruwa.
However, despite the ruling, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command allegedly deployed officers to the secretariat, preventing Baruwa from assuming office in line with the court’s directive.
Officers were said to have fired teargas to disperse the crowd, while one person was reportedly shot during the chaos. The condition of the victim could not be immediately confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
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.”
