TWO suspects have been arrested in connection with the explosion, which occurred at the wee hours of Friday which reduced to rubbles the secretariat of the Isoko Development Union (IDU), in Oleh, headquarters of Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State.
Although the reason for the destruction of the building, venue of the IDU Conference, could not yet be ascertained, the names of the suspects were given as Adekpobi Friday of Okpe-Isoko and Igo Akpogene of Ode Street in Ofagbe of the local government.
President General of the union, Chief Iduh Amaideh, who reported the arson to the police, described the Friday burning of the National Secretariat of the union by irate youths as colossal and alarming.
Nobody was lost or harmed during the destruction, it was gathered.
Suspected Isoko youths had burned down the National Secretariat of the Isoko Development Union (IDU) located at Oleh for reasons yet to be ascertained.
The youths, accused of having earlier invaded the secretariat on August 13, 2016, destroyed the building at about 4:00am.
The entire structure, according to Chief Amaideh, was destroyed during the mayhem.
“It happened in the night, around 4 or 4:30am, nobody was harmed. Police is still investigating it.
“We too are putting our heads together to look at where such a thing could have come from, but it’s a sad development, considering all the efforts we have made, the resources we have put to get structure there,” he lamented.
Speaking further on the mayhem, the union leader reiterated that “the damage is much, it’s not what we can manage, and we’ll have to pull the whole thing down to restructure it.
“Almost 80 per cent of it was destroyed. It was a huge damage,” he bemoaned.
He wondered why such dastardly act should be perpetrated at a time the Isoko nation was celebrating its sons and daughters who have excelled.
“The Isoko nation is having an ongoing event; the recognition of Isoko sons and daughters, who have excelled and contributed to the development of the nation in so many ways.
“We honoured them, 17 of them; 15 men and two women,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Police Command, SP Celestina Kalu, in a statement for this reporter late Friday, said the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 5 as well as the Commissioner of Police in the oil-rich state had visited to assess the extent of damage.
Kalu said the suspects had been handed over to the CIID for further investigation while the cause of the explosion was being probed.
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