*National President Baruwa, others arrested, premises shut
By OUR REPORTER
President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, has been arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), media report has said.
It said Baruwa and three other union officials were arrested at the NURTW national secretariat on Friday evening at about 5pm when armed policemen invaded the premises and asked all the occupants to vacate the building.
The development came barely two days after the NURTW president had raised the alarm over alleged plot by some persons and groups to stage a protest at the national secretariat of the union located in Garki 2 district of Abuja.
The deputy president of the union, Isa Ore, who confirmed the development, said no reason was given for the action by the Police.
Arrested alongside the NURTW President were the general secretary, Anthony Asogwa Chukudi; national trustee, Olayi Odion, and principal assistant secretary, Abdulrasak Yemi.
According to Ore, the arrested union members were being detained at the Wuse Zone 3 Police Division.
He said the incident occurred when the union was preparing for the inauguration and swearing-in of its newly elected members of the National Administrative Council.
He explained that the policemen arrived and ordered the staff to vacate and sealed off the premises.
“We were shocked to see the policemen in their number locking our secretariat without giving any reason.
“Today Saturday, we are preparing for the inauguration and swearing-in of the newly elected National Administrative Council members, but we just saw police and they asked us to leave the premises,” he said.
He added, “They said it was an order from the above, and they have detained our president and other leaders at Wuse Police Station.
“I have called the FCT Commissioner of Police but he said he was not in town,” Isa Ore said.
The DEFENDER’s inquisitiveness to know what happened, but which was not provided by its police source, led to suspicion that an MC Oluomo-led force, sacked out of NURTW in Lagos State in the build-up to 2023 general elections, is responsible for what is happening to the union at the national level because of its connection with the man in office now as President of Nigeria.
Nobody was willing to corroborate this assertion as at the time of filing this report.
