There was chaos on Tuesday after a violent clash broke out between two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Sapele Crescent, off Ladoke Akintola Boulevard, Garki II, Abuja.
According to reports, the clash broke out when supporters of the NURTW President, Tajudeen Baruwa, marched towards the union’s national headquarters, which is currently occupied by the Lagos Park Management Committee led by Tajudeen Agbede.
Baruwa, reports say, had earlier revealed that he sought the intervention of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Labour Congress to resolve the situation, without success.
He was quoted to have said, “We shall henceforth not hesitate to defend our mandate with the last drop of our blood.
He also accused former NURTW leaders of illegally occupying the National Secretariat of the union.
Only a court of competent jurisdiction, he stressed, can invalidate his mandate, and encouraged aggrieved members to follow due process and seek legal redress.
He cautioned that anything short of this could lead to anarchy.
He further accused the former president of the union, Najeem Yasin, and Agbede, the former National Vice President, of holding illegal meetings with selected past leaders of the union.
He called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, and Director General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, to intervene in the matter.
It is not clear if there were casualties in the clash, Punch report says eyewitnesses revealed that the transport union members fired several gunshots in the air during the conflict, which caused heightened tension in the area.
