Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command agents have detained Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, the court-recognized president of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), along with six of his loyalists.
In a statement released on Monday, SP Josephine Adeh, the command’s spokesperson, detailed the situation. According to the statement, the command received a distress call stating that about 300 people had invaded the NURTW offices on Sapele Street, Garki II, Abuja, armed with cutlasses, bottles, bows, and arrows.
The armed guys were allegedly taking stuff from the NURTW premises, which led to violence when another factional leader fought back, according to her knowledge.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer stated that a response team was led to the scene by DCP Isyaku Sharu, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, in a timely manner.
There was word upon her arrival that Baruwa and his cronies “were trying to enforce a court order on the premises without the presence of court sheriffs and other officials,” she said.
An altercation broke out as other NURTW members tried to retaliate, and one person suffered serious machete wounds to the neck as a result.
“The police team rescued him, and they hurriedly transported multiple others to a nearby hospital for medical treatment after they suffered injuries of varying degrees.”
Ibikunle T. Baruwa, Abdullahi Garba, Rasheed Fojebi, Dalha Suleiman, Nasir Ibrahim, Alhaji Sadisu Musa, and Sulaiman A. Musa are among the individuals apprehended.
“Normalcy has since been restored to the area,” the police said, adding that all suspects have been “charged to Magistrate Court 1, Wuse Zone 2.”
Videos purporting to show command officers shooting at NURTW members have also gone viral, however Josephine Adeh has disproved them.
She emphasised that the accusations were made to stir up public sentiment and that they are untrue and misleading.