Dangote Cement Plc has disclosed when 27 employees were shot at the company said, when armed thugs allegedly acting on the orders of the Kogi state government broke into its Obajana cement plant.
In a statement, the company’s Group Managing Director, Michel Pucheros, said that armed vigilantes acting in accordance with a resolution of the Kogi state House of Assembly on contentious tax claims carried out the invasion.
The vigilantes shot at 27 of our employees while forcibly evicting staff to enforce the shutdown, he claimed. They also damaged some of the company’s property at the plant.
Dangote Cement Plc, as previously stated, owns 100% of the Obajana cement facility, according to Pucheros, who also stated that steps had been taken to apprehend the vigilantes responsible for the invasion.
In the meantime, the Kogi State government has come under fire from the Organized Private Sector (OPS), which operates under the auspices of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), for closing the Dangote Cement, Obajana Plant.
In separate comments, the Lagos and Abuja sections of the Chamber branded the state governor Yahaya Bello’s move as, at the at least, “shocking and disheartening,” adding that for every day the factory remains closed, millions of naira are wasted and the prestige of Kogi state suffers.
NACCIMA expressed concern that the company’s problems with the state over a tax dispute should not have resulted in its sealing instead of being settled amicably and conciliationally.
The organization urged for the prompt reopening of the facility so that regular production activities can continue in a statement made in Lagos and signed by its Director-General, Olusola Obadimu. The statement claimed the state government should have taken a cautious approach.
According to Obadimu, NACCIMA’s stance was based on several important factors relating to the effects of the factory’s closure on the economy and the thousands of individuals whose means of subsistence depend on the factory’s production operations.
It is crucial to emphasize that this enormous production facility employs hundreds of thousands of Nigerians both directly and indirectly and provides a crucial domestic input (cement) to the economy. This is in addition to its considerable expenditure for non-tax corporate social responsibility.
“Shutting down the factory does not always resolve the contentious problem of tax compliance due to the Kogi state government. Instead, he asserted that maintaining factory operations would be more likely to speed up the dispute’s resolution.
The attack on the cement facility, according to a statement from the LCCI issued by its Director General, Dr. Chinyere Almona, was a result of the nation’s subpar management of investment protection concerns.
The Chamber asserted that it thought there were more honorable ways to resolve legislative and regulatory issues affecting businesses in Nigeria than using force. The Chamber claims that the youth invasion of the Dangote Cement Factory, which resulted in the shooting of factory employees, was regrettable and preventable.
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“We want a scenario where industry and the government both win. We shall therefore urge everyone to exercise vigilance and protect jobs, production assets, and government revenue from corporations like Dangote Cement Factory, she continued.
The head of the LCCI noted that business profits and social investments had previously benefited both the Federal Government and the Kogi State Government, and he continued, “It is therefore expected that the government would be interested in creating an enabling business environment that can attract both local and foreign investors.” And when violations occur, they should be handled in accordance with ethical standards and the law to safeguard investors’ rights and people’s lives.
