A clash between two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at its Abuja headquarters on Tuesday, tragically resulted in two fatalities, according to local sources.
According to information gleaned from union officials, one of the victims hails from the Nasarawa state chapter, while the identity of the other remains unconfirmed.
The root cause of this clash appears to be linked to disputes over the leadership’s composition, stemming from a divergence between the current president and his predecessor’s choice of successor.
NURTW President Tajudeen Baruwa, had accused the Lagos Park Management Committee led by Tajudeen Agbede of illegally occupying the union’s national headquarters, and sought the intervention of both the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in resolving the situation but had not met with success.
He also accused the former union president, Najeem Yasin, and Agbede, the former National Vice President, of clandestinely holding meetings with specific past union leaders.
Baruwa, however, vowed: “We shall henceforth not hesitate to defend our mandate with the last drop of our blood.”
In a video from the scene that went viral, some men armed with clubs were seen in a frenzy smashing the windshields of cars as people scampered for safety.
It was gathered that one faction subsequently convened a meeting at the NURTW headquarters in the Garki 2 area of Abuja, while the other sought refuge at the Nigeria Labour Congress headquarters in Labour House, Central Business District.
To maintain order, Nigerian police officers have been deployed to patrol the NURTW headquarters and relative calm has been reinstated in the surrounding vicinity.