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Armed policemen on Friday took over the headquarters of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) in Benin City following the arrest of some officials of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) amid the ongoing industrial action by the union.
More than 10 armed police operatives and five patrol vehicles were stationed at the company’s headquarters on Akpakpava Road. One of the vehicles was reportedly mounted with a submachine gun.
The operatives also cordoned off the area, restricting movement along the road leading to the busy Forestry and Mission Road markets.
The police action sparked complaints from traders in the area, who said the restriction prevented customers from accessing their shops and disrupted business activities.
The deployment followed the strike embarked upon by NUEE on October 19 over unresolved workers’ demands, including salary increments, implementation of the national minimum wage, salary harmonisation and promotion-related grievances.
The industrial action reportedly disrupted electricity supply across BEDC’s franchise area.
While union branches in Delta, Ekiti, and Ondo states reportedly suspended the strike and restored electricity supply, following a conciliation meeting with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Abuja on Wednesday, the dispute remained unresolved in Edo state.
As of Friday, efforts to resolve the dispute involving union leaders in Edo State had yet to produce a truce.
A BEDC employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, said union members were at the entrance of the company’s headquarters monitoring compliance with the strike when security operatives arrived and arrested some officials.
The worker alleged that the officials were assaulted before being taken away, adding that their colleagues had been unable to establish their whereabouts as of the time of filing in this report.
The employee further accused BEDC management of instigating the arrests, alleging that the police were being used to intimidate workers and force them to suspend the industrial action.
According to the source, management had earlier threatened to arrest the union officials, whom it allegedly held responsible for the protest.
Efforts made to obtain comments from BEDC’s Head of Branding and Corporate Communications, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen, were unsuccessful.
Similarly, the Edo State Police Command’s spokesperson, ASP Eno Ikoedem, had yet to respond to messages sent to her as of the time of filing in this report.
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