The FCT Police Command on Monday described videos circulating on social media alleging police involvement in a shooting at the National Union of Road Transport Workers headquarters as false and misleading, stating that officers only intervened to restore order.
The command said seven suspects, including Tajudeen Baruwa, were arrested and charged to court following the incident at the union’s headquarters in Garki II, Abuja.
A statement by Police Public Relations Officer SP Josephine Adeh said the command received a distress call at about 7:00 a.m. on March 23, 2026, reporting that approximately 300 individuals armed with cutlasses, bottles, bows, and arrows had stormed the NURTW headquarters and were removing items from the premises.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, DCP Isyaku Sharu, led a response team to the scene. Preliminary investigations revealed that the group was attempting to enforce a court order without the presence of court sheriffs and other authorised officials.
“The action degenerated into a physical confrontation when other members of the NURTW attempted to resist them. This led to one victim being inflicted with severe machete wounds to the neck. He was rescued by the Police team, while several others who sustained varying degrees of injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment,” Adeh said.
The following suspects were arrested at the scene: Sulaiman A. Musa, Nasiru Ibrahim, Alhaji Sadisu Musa, Dalha Suleiman, Abdullahi Garba, Saheed Fojebi, and Ibikunle T. Baruwa.
Adeh said the suspects have been charged before Magistrate Court 1, Wuse Zone 2, and normalcy has been restored to the area.
Earlier on Monday, Baruwa had assumed control of the union’s national secretariat, displacing Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, citing court rulings that affirmed his presidency.
The National Industrial Court and the Court of Appeal had previously affirmed Baruwa as the duly elected president of the union, with the appellate court dismissing an appeal filed by loyalists of MC Oluomo.
