A Civil Society organization , the ” Edo State Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights” wants the Edo state Government to protect indigenous enterprise, especially those built by hardworking Edo sons and daughters in the state .
Ossiomo Power Plant is a gas-fired thermal power plant in Edo State, with a 95 MW capacity that supplies electricity to the Benin Enterprise Park, government buildings, and residents.
Coordinator- General of the coalition, a Right advocate, Marxist Kola Edokpayi stated this at a Press briefing in Benin City, the Edo state Capital while condemning the unlawful encroachment of Ossiomo Investment Limited, located in Ologbo Community, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.
Marxist Edokpayi alleged that the encroachment of the company was masterminded by the Okao N’ Re Eguae of Ologbo Dukedom, Chief Emma Iyase, on the 29th October 2025.
“Over the years, Ossiomo Investment Limited — owned and managed by industrious Edo indigenes both at home and in the diaspora— has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to the industrial and economic transformation of Edo State. Its investments, notably the $250 million petrochemical plant and the Ossiomo Power Project, have not only powered Ologbo and adjoining communities for over five years but have also generated employment, infrastructure, and stability within the region. Within the past nine months alone, the company has expended over ₦182 million in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to support local development.
It is therefore deeply unfortunate and counterproductive that individuals from Ologbo in alleged collusion with Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology Company Limited (CCETC, a Chinese Company, would allegedly engage in acts of reckless trespass, malicious damage, and economic sabotage against a legally recognized and indigenous enterprise”
He explained that the situation was worrisome and appealed to the Palace of the Oba of Benin to reaffirm its historic commitment to justice and lawful enterprise by restraining any actors abusing traditional influence to perpetrate illegality.
” It is both distressing and intolerable that bulldozers, pay loaders, and other heavy-duty machinery were deployed to trespass and destroy installations belonging to a legitimate corporate entity without judicial authorization, thereby constituting a gross affront to the rule of law, an assault on constitutionally protected property rights, and a deliberate provocation against peace and order in Ologbo Dukedom”
He noted that findings from them revealed that the Company’s property was legitimately acquired and stressed
that it’s encroachment if not decisively punished, risks sending a dangerously negative message to Edo indigenes in the diaspora and other potential investors.”
” Upon due scrutiny of legal instruments and ownership records, the Coalition confirms that Ossiomo Investment Limited lawfully acquired the said property from His Royal Majesty, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa (of blessed memory), the revered Oba of Benin, in 2008. The acquisition is duly documented under Survey Plans No. OSA/2030/BD90 and OSA/2132/ED94, covering 1,511.269 hectares, and further authenticated by a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Edo State Government in July 2008. “
The Rights Advocate further stated that the parcel of land was never communal land, but part of a government reserve which was de reserved by Edo State Government in the 1990s legally transferred to Ossiomo Investment Limited for industrial utilization and demands that Jiangsu Communication Clean Energy Technology Company Limited (CCETC) immediately withdraw its involvement from the unlawful encroachment and comply with Nigerian laws pending the conclusion of formal investigations.
Reacting to the allegations,Okao N’ Re Eguae of Ologbo Dukedom, Chief Emma Iyase Dukedom, Chief Emma Iyase, dismissed the claims by the civil society group as unfounded, baseless and without merit accusing Ossiomo Power Plant of unlawfully taking possession of over 1,511 hectares of land belonging to Ologbo community through the former state administration without proper title documents.
” Upon my assumption as the Okao N’ Re Eguae of Ologbo Dukedom, there were series of protests, letters here and there, accusing Dr Uwa, MD Ossiomo that during Obaseki administration, they used Obaseki as Governor to forcefully took over their ancestral lands even the traditional ground in Ologbo, Ossiomo took it over, through Obaseki, without no single documents from the community or from anywhere.
I said you people cannot tell me that. I met with the Ossiomo one on one, I invited him, we met and I confronted him saying this is what they are feeding me but however I have set up a probe panel, not just only on you , but also on Pressco, as there are allegations that they took over thirteen thousand hectares of land. Since the community are agitating , you are saying my father, our Royal father gave you the land, please just photo start, so that I can call the community and show them, ask him, Ossiomo refused to appear and has refused to speak with anybody.
The area he developed you now go if anybody has tampered with his property, it’s only the free area that has to do with traditional ground,the people’s land and farming land, that’s where we are having issues with him”.
