ABUJA — The leadership crisis within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) took a violent and controversial turn on Tuesday as Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, reportedly stormed the union’s National Secretariat in Abuja under heavy military and police escort.
The move comes just 24 hours after a rival faction led by Tajudeen Baruwa had taken control of the facility, backed by a Court of Appeal judgment that reaffirmed Baruwa as the legitimate National President and invalidated Oluomo’s election. In a swift and aggressive counter-move, security forces moved in to clear the Baruwa group, arresting several officials before paving the way for Oluomo to reclaim the building.
Prominent human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong has reacted with outrage to the sight of active-duty soldiers enforcing the takeover for a man who was technically sacked by the judiciary. “Soldiers accompanied MC Oluomo to take over the national secretariat of the NURTW in defiance of a court judgment sacking him?” Effiong questioned in a viral statement. “Is this the country that we want to bestow on our children?”
Critics of the administration are pointing to the incident as a brazen example of “political thuggery” backed by state power. They argue that the use of the military to bypass a court ruling sets a dangerous precedent, especially given Oluomo’s well-known personal ties to President Bola Tinubu. While the FCT Police Command claimed the arrests of the Baruwa faction were due to “threats to public peace,” legal experts maintain that the enforcement of a court order is the duty of court sheriffs, not an armed military escort for a private citizen.
As of Wednesday morning, the secretariat remains on a total lockdown with armed personnel stationed at every entrance. The Baruwa faction has vowed to challenge the “illegal occupation” in court, but for now, the union’s headquarters sits firmly in the hands of the man the law says should not be there.
