During the conflict, gunshots rang out, intensifying the tension in the area. As of the time of this report, the exact number of casualties, if any, remained unconfirmed.
This clash highlights the escalating tension within the NURTW, a situation that many observers believe urgently requires intervention to prevent further breakdowns of law and order.
According to sources, the clash erupted when supporters of NURTW President, Prof. Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, marched towards the union's national headquarters, which is currently occupied by the Lagos Park Management Committee led by Tajudeen Badru Agbede.
"Members of the Lagos Park Management Committee, led by Agbede, forcefully occupied the Secretariat a few weeks ago, displacing the president and other executives," an eyewitness disclosed to Vanguard. "Supporters of the current president mobilized themselves in an effort to forcibly remove Agbede and his group. However, they were met by a police blockade, resulting in a violent confrontation. Shots were fired, intensifying the gravity of the crisis."
Baruwa had sought police and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) intervention to resolve the situation but without success.
"We shall henceforth not hesitate to defend our mandate with the last drop of our blood," Baruwa had earlier vowed, accusing former NURTW leaders of illegally occupying the National Secretariat of the union. He also accused the former union president, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, and Agbede, the former National Vice President, of holding illegal meetings with selected past leaders of the union.
Furthermore, Baruwa alleged that the police appeared to favor the Lagos Park Management Committee and called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Olukayode Egbetokun and Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, to intervene in the matter.
He emphasized that only a court of competent jurisdiction could invalidate their mandate and encouraged aggrieved members to follow due process and seek legal redress, warning that anything short of this could lead to anarchy.
