30th August, 2023
The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said the deployment of its personnel to the Headquarters of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) was done as a proactive step to forestall violence.
The Police made the clarification followed concern raised by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Joe Ajaero over the deployment of police personnel to the union secretariat.
Ajero had alleged that the deployment was an alleged attempt to dethrone a legally elected leadership of the union.
The police stormed the NURTW headquarters in Abuja on Friday evening.
The development came barely two days after the NURTW president, Mr Tajudeen Baruwa, raised an 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.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, SP Josephine Adeh said deployment of personnel to the NURTW secretariat was not an act of interference in the internal affairs of the union.
“It is a proactive step to forestall any potential violence or illegal actions that could arise from disputes within the union,” she said.
Adeh said the role of the police in a crisis situation was to ensure that disputes were resolved peacefully and in accordance with the law.
“If there are concerns about the legality of any actions taken, the appropriate legal channels should be pursued.
“The police will not fold its hands and allow the leadership feud between the two groups to degenerate into a break down of law and order.
“It is the police’s constitutional responsibility to maintain law and order,” she added.