In a press release issued recently, BUA group has alleged that the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki ordered the arrest of two of its employees at Obu-Okpella.
The two employees were invited to the mining site to receive the governor, who had paid a visit to the mine. They were then picked up on the orders of the governor. The company has since asked its lawyers to seek their unconditional release.
BUA also stated that one of its mining sites has been forcefully closed down by the Governor without regard to the court’s pronouncement on maintaining status quo at that particular site (and without any formal communication from the Edo State Government).
BUA as a responsible corporate entity has instructed its lawyers to report back to the courts on this latest developments and pursue all legal channels to enforce its rights.
Whilst the Governor based the legitimacy of his actions on a purported Stop-Work order from the Ministry of Mines, BUA wishes to reiterate that there is a pronouncement of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin on December 5, 2017 that declared the Stop-work order issued by the ministry as a contravention of the Court’s directives to maintain status quo and thus deemed it illegal.
The same court also threatened to arrest the Minister who is the first defendant in the case if the stop word order continues to be pursued.
BUA Group started business in 1988 as a Private Limited Liability Company specializing in the importation and marketing of iron & steel, agricultural and industrial chemicals. Since then it has rapidly developed into a fully-fledged, diversified business with a stake in a wide range of business sectors.
