Edo Court Remands Man for Allegedly Assaulting Two BEDC Officials Over Meter Bypass

An Oredo Magistrate Court sitting on Sapele Road, Benin City, Edo State, has remanded a man identified as Samuel Bernard in custody for allegedly assaulting two officials of BEDC Electricity Plc during a meter bypass inspection.

Bernard was arraigned on Monday, October 5, 2026, on a two-count charge of assault and malicious destruction of property.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, after which the court ordered his remand in custody and adjourned the case to October 29, 2026, for further hearing.

The case followed an incident involving two BEDC officials, Chibuzor Japhet and Anthony Kido, who were carrying out a meter bypass monitoring exercise at Say-Eke DSS.

According to BEDC, the officials discovered two suspected cases of meter bypass while inspecting Meter No. 04220025763.

Bernard allegedly became angry over the discovery and attacked the officials, tearing their clothes during the confrontation.

He was also accused of damaging Kido’s Infinix mobile phone, valued at ₦120,000, and a shirt worth ₦20,000, bringing the reported value of the damaged items to ₦140,000.

The incident was reported to the Ugbor Police Station, leading to Bernard’s arrest on Saturday, October 3, 2026, before his arraignment two days later.

Reacting to the incident, BEDC’s Head of Branding and Corporate Communications, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen, condemned attacks on electricity workers carrying out their official duties.

She said the company would not tolerate assault, harassment or violence against its personnel during meter inspections, disconnections and other electricity-related operations.

Gbiwen urged customers with complaints about electricity supply, billing or meter inspections to use the company’s established complaint channels rather than resort to violence.

BEDC also called for public cooperation in tackling electricity theft and meter bypass across its operational areas.

Meanwhile, Bernard remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty, as the court is yet to determine the allegations against him.

The case is scheduled to continue on October 29, 2026.