Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Nigeria Police Force to immediately vacate the secretariat of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) within 48 hours.
Crisis in NURTW had deepened on Sunday, following the emergence of a caretaker committee chaired by Tajudeen Agbede. The committee also announced the dissolution of the Tajudeen Baruwa-led executive, citing tenure expiration.
Following an emergency National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting, yesterday, NLC also asked President Bola Tinubu to clear his name over allegations that he is complicit in the crisis rocking the transport union.
In a communiqué signed by NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, the union threatened it would muster all its affiliates for a showdown in support of what it said is the legally elected NURTW leadership.
It accused the Nigeria Police Force of interfering in the internal affairs of NURTW and other unions, saying the police have usurped powers of arbitration in disputes, contrary to the dictates of statutes governing industrial relations.
It alleged that the Inspector General of Police acquiesced to invasion of the NURTW national secretariat to unseat the elected leadership and install a stooge.
It affirmed legality of the Baruwa-led leadership, warning that moves to upturn governance of the transport union could lead to violence.
Also, NURTW raised the alarm over what it called an illegal plot by some leaders from park management committees in South West states to cause violence in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and attack the union’s national secretariat.
The union alleged that the would-be perpetrators planned to hide under the guise of staging a protest against the just concluded national delegates’ conference, held in Lafia, Nasarawa State, to unleash mayhem on FCT residents.
The group disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by Baruwa and General Secretary, Anthony Asogwa Chukwudi, in Abuja, yesterday.
The statement alleged that thugs had already been imported to perfect the plan and invade the secretariat.
NURTW described the planned protest as a campaign of calumny against the leadership of the union, aimed at causing confusion and fomenting trouble.
The statement noted that NURTW would not condone any acts of lawlessness by disgruntled elements, adding that security agencies had already been put on notice.
