By Flourish Osetohanmen

The 10 security personnel of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) who were arrested last Friday by the officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Edo State command are still being detained by the police as at Monday.

The OPC operatives were under questionable circumstances arrested at the premises of the Ossiomo Power Company, Ologbo in Ikpoba-Okha local government area of Edo State.

The management of Ossiomo Power Company which had raised an alarm over the arrest, said they were part of the private security personnel safeguarding its multi-billion naira property at Ologbo.

Ossiomo Power Company stated that the unwanted arrest was carried out by the divisional police officer in Ologbo police station on Friday at the premises of the company.

Investigation revealed that Chief Johnson Asheleghe, Felix Okotie and other unidentified Itsekiri persons had gone with the DPO, Mr. Gideon Azuwonu, to the company premises with the mobile policemen from MOPOL 5 (Benin City) and ordered all the OPC out of their duty posts, and arrested 10 of them in the process.

It recalled that on Thursday last week, some itsekiri youths from the community prevented the Ossiomo Power Company efforts to restart electricity supply to Benin City and its environs.

The youths believed to be fronting for a Chinese firm known as Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology Co. Ltd (CCETC), have since early September, 2025, forcefully and illegally stopped the operations of the company’s gas plant, thereby preventing the Ossiomo Power Company from providing electricity power to its teeming customers.

It was further alleged that the policemen also drove away the bricklayers employed by the Ossiomo Power to work at its shopping mall.

“The DPO’s men and the Mobile Police from MOPOL 5 (Prince Johnson’s escorts) also broke down our gates, creating our fear that the absence of our security men will create the opportunity to vandalize and steal our property.

Effort to contact the Ologbo divisional police officer proved abortive.

But the police public relations officer, Edo State Police Command, ASP Eno Ekoedom, said the Ologbo DPO, Mr. Gideon Azuwonu, had received information from members of the community that some civilians with guns were in that location, prompting him to quickly mobilize to the place.

She disclosed that on getting to the location in company of some members of the community, they recovered some arms including a pump action gun, saying about nine of the men who claimed to be OPC operatives were arrested.

On the demolition of the Ossiomo Power Company’s gate house, she disclosed that no member of the police force could do that without any court orders, insisting that the DPO and his men did not destroy any property.