The arrest occurred when Baruwa and his team arrived at the NURTW national headquarters in Abuja to enforce a court ruling affirming him as the authentic president of the union.
The situation reportedly turned violent, with one of his supporters shot and several others assaulted by police personnel deployed to the scene.
The development follows a prior ruling by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja, which ordered officials of a rival faction of the union, including the management team led by Musiliu Akinsanya, to vacate the union’s national secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory.
In the judgment delivered on March 6, 2026, in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/203/2025, Justice E. D. Subilim directed that the claimants led by Baruwa take immediate control of the union’s affairs.
The court further ordered that the defendants and anyone occupying the office through them vacate the premises and hand over possession to Baruwa’s leadership.
The claimants in the suit include Baruwa, Bello Adamu, Eugene Eze Job, Dajuma Saidu, Prince Isah Dahiru Usman, Suleman Adamu, Odion Olaye (JP), Chief Herbert C. Iwuji, and Muhammed Bello Madu.
Others are Olajide Abideen Abimbola, Lekan Salami Folorunsho, Monday Eleazar, Comrade Chukwudi Asogwa, as well as the NURTW.
The defendants are Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, Alhaji Tajudeen Badru Agbede, Alhaji Kayode Agbeyangi, Kayode Agbeyangi, Alhaji Alhassan Haruna, Aliyu Tanimu and Alhaji Hakeem Adeosun.
In the suit, the claimants had asked the court to restrain the defendants from occupying the union’s national secretariat in Abuja or parading themselves as officials of the NURTW.
After reviewing the arguments and evidence presented, Justice E. D. Subilim ruled in favour of the claimants, ordering the defendants to immediately vacate the premises and cease all further occupation.
The court also directed the defendants to hand over all union property, documents, and facilities within the office to the leadership recognised by the court. In addition, it restrained them and their agents from collecting tickets or levies from union members nationwide.
The judgment was expected to restore full control of the Abuja secretariat to the leadership led by Baruwa.
However, despite the ruling, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command allegedly deployed officers to the secretariat, preventing Baruwa from assuming office in line with the court’s directive.
SaharaReporters gathered that Baruwa arrived at the NURTW headquarters on Monday morning but was resisted by police personnel, who reportedly assaulted him and his supporters.
Officers were said to have fired teargas to disperse the crowd, while one person was reportedly shot during the chaos. The condition of the victim could not be immediately confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
Following the confrontation and reported shooting, Baruwa was arrested by the police, although his whereabouts remained unclear.
Before his arrest, Baruwa had addressed journalists at the union’s national headquarters, flanked by supporters from across the country. He maintained that his actions were backed by two court judgments delivered in his favour.
He added that the union had formally notified the police, attaching copies of the judgments to facilitate the recovery of the secretariat.
However, he said the response from authorities was not encouraging, prompting the union to issue a fresh notice declaring its intention to take over the office and resume duties in compliance with the court rulings.
Baruwa said, “Their body language has not been encouraging despite repeated assurance that we are not going back to foment any trouble as we are a law-abiding union whose only mission is to get back what belonged to them.
“But today, as you can see, we are taking over in a peaceful manner, and it is not a forceful takeover but just carrying out the court’s orders.
“Again, please be aware that our coming here after two years is to occupy our office, having obtained judgments at both the lower court and the Appeal Court, but they refused to obey court orders after waiting for about two years. We decided to resume back at the office today without causing any violence, and here we are.”
“Although the other faction attacked one of our members, who is now in the hospital, the situation is under control. We are still open to reconciliation as we are a lawful organization and not a troublemaker. No one is above the law,” he said.
