Night Of Violence: How Julius Abure, Aide, DSS Operative Forced Entry Into Party Headquarters

Fresh tensions is brewing within the Labour Party following an alleged late-night invasion of its national secretariat in Abuja by the sacked National Chairman, Mr. Julius Abure, and the National Secretary, Mr. Umar Farouq. This incident reportedly led to the assault of security guards and the involvement of an officer of the Department of State Services.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at about 8:30pm, weeks after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on January 21, 2026, upheld Abure’s removal as National Chairman of the Labour Party.

Party sources described the development as fallout from the court judgment, which affirmed the party’s leadership transition.

THE WHISTLER’s findings showed that about two weeks before the incident, Abure contacted the National Administrative Secretary, Mr. Kingsley Ameh, requesting that financial documents be transferred from the secretariat to his office.

Ameh reportedly informed him that the documents were with the National Accountant, Mrs. Chidinma Ositadinma.

When contacted, Ositadinma was said to have stated that she was unavailable due to a training engagement but indicated that a spare key was with a security guard, Mr. Aminu Salisu.

On Friday, February 6, 2026, Abure allegedly directed his brother, Mr. John Abure, to move the financial documents to the chairman’s office within the secretariat.

The transfer, it was learnt took place in the absence of the National Accountant but in the presence of the National Administrative Secretary.

Earlier on the day of the alleged invasion, the newly recognised National Chairman, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, and party members gathered at the secretariat to mark the court ruling and formally reopen the premises under a new leadership dispensation.

Hours after the celebration, and shortly after security personnel had retired for the day, Abure, Farouq, John Abure, the FCT Labour Party Secretary, Mr. Ismail Musa, Kennedy Hanatu, Mr. Olurunfemi, a DSS officer identified as Mr. Zachariah Thomas, and several others arrived at the premises.

Recounting his experience to THE WHISTLER, a security guard Aminu Salisu said the operation lasted about 30 minutes, between 8:30pm and 9:00pm.

He said, “On Tuesday around 8:30pm, Julius Abure, Umar Farouq Ibrahim, Kennedy Hanatu, Olurunfemi amongst others came to the office and asked me to open gates for them after a series of failed attempts to open the gate, but I refused.

“The DSS officer, Mr. Zachariah Thomas attached to Abure in person jumped on the gate and called my name, ‘Aminu come and open this gate’ but I refused. Thomas told me if I insisted on refusing to open the gate, he would shoot me. Immediately, he pointed the pistol at me, but I refused to open the gate.

“Thomas then jumped inside the compound alongside Abure’s brother, Mr. John while the gate was still locked, that was when I started running and they both pursued me and apprehended me. Immediately, both of them started beating me while insisting that I must open the gate, but I refused.

“When the beating became intense, I had to tell them that the key wasn’t with me but with my colleague, so they left me and started beating my colleague, Mr. Samuel Bassey. That was when he brought out the key and opened the small section of the gate.

“So, Abure, Kennedy, Olurunfemi, Ibrahim, Ismail Musa, the FCT Secretary of the Labour Party, and some touts then had access to the office. Immediately, Abure ordered the touts to remove all the banners in the premises.

“Just when I thought the beating was over, Thomas started hitting me again, and demanded for all the keys in the office. So, he pulled me to my room, and that was when all the keys in my possession were taken.”

Providing further details, he added, “John Abure was the one who broke the chairman’s office door with his leg. Then we heard Abure and Farouq inquiring from Thomas if he had retrieved our phones, and he replied yes.

“So, Thomas seized my phone and that of my colleague and told us to go retrieve our belongings from the security post.

“As we were packing, Thomas came back and started beating me, while shouting that I am taking too long, that I should exit this compound this moment, that he doesn’t want to see me around this vicinity.

“They came here by 8:30pm and left by 9:00pm, because they executed the operation very fast. I saw Abure and Farouq leaving with documents in their possession.”

The guard stated that he alerted party members after the group left the premises.

A visit to the secretariat revealed that the door to the National Chairman’s office had been forced open, with parts of the lock scattered on the floor.

Earlier that day, officials had reportedly changed the office locks, effectively restricting Abure’s access following the court ruling.

The safe located within the inner section of the chairman’s office remained intact, as it requires three separate keys held by different officials before it can be opened, THE WHISTLER gathered.

The safe in the National Secretary’s office was also found untouched, and documents there remained in place, as the key wasn’t part of what was retrieved from the guards while the National Accountant’s office similarly showed no signs of tampering, following the earlier relocation of financial documents.

Reacting to the incident, Mrs. Nenadi Usman confirmed that documents were removed from the premises but said the full extent of what was taken remained unclear as of press time.

She said, “I just know documents were taken away, because we came on Tuesday to take over the office and I saw quite a few documents, but now they have disappeared, and for me to know what was taken away would take me some time, this is so sad. The Labour Party is for everyone who has its good interest at heart.

“Every institution must be respected and there must be institutional memory and history, when you serve your tenure in an office, every document that belongs to the office stays with the office, once your tenure is done, you leave without the documents.

“Coming to steal official documents at night is wrong. How do we build, when history is stolen?”

On steps taken, she said, “We have reported to the security operatives, that’s why we have them positioned in front of the secretariat.

“I am sure the DG DSS and his entire team would be shocked when they hear of the conduct of their official. And I’m sure they would not let it go.”

Addressing reports of a possible appeal, she stated, “We learnt there has been an appeal, though we haven’t been served, but when we do, we will take it from there.

“What we intend to do is restructure the building blocks, membership revaluation, and registration of old and new members. If we don’t know how many, how do we plan strategically?”

Commenting on the development, the Acting General Secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr. Benson Upah, described the alleged action as criminal and in contempt of court.

He said, “It is quite shameful, but it is in line with the character of the people who did it. First and foremost it is a criminal offence when you break a facility with authorisation.

“You don’t need to be a police officer to know that its a serious crime. Recall that this same element accused us of stealing billions of workers’ salaries from this secretariat. But the chicken has come to roost.

“A thief in the night is a thief in daytime, it is consistent with their character, it is shameful and contemptuous of the decision from the court. We have two issues, issues of contempt and issues bordering on crime.

“The NLC condemns this in its entirety and hopes the law takes its course in due time. We do hope this doesn’t happen again, but if it does, we know what to do.”

The development marks the latest escalation in the Labour Party’s leadership crisis, coming less than a month after the Federal High Court ruling that reshaped the party’s national leadership structure.