Tension gripped Benin City on Thursday night after security operatives arrested the Edo State Chairman of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade William Uwumarogie, and other union members at the headquarters of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
A situation report from the NUEE Zonal Leadership said the incident happened between 7:20 pm and 8:00 pm at the BEDC Head Office on Akpakpava Road.
The union officials were at the facility as part of the ongoing strike over unresolved labour disputes when the operatives arrived in a Toyota Hiace bus and took them away.
Videos circulating on social media show a physical scuffle between the security personnel and people at the scene.
Neither the security agencies nor BEDC management has said why the unionists were arrested or where they are being held.
The arrests come as Benin and other parts of Edo State remain in a blackout, with the strike showing no sign of ending.
