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Discordant tunes over sealing of Dangote Cement factory in Kogi

Published

2 years ago

October 7, 2022

Dangote Cement Obajana

Tension has gripped the mining community of Obajana in the Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State following the incident that led to the closure of the Dangote Cement factory.

Many workers of the company were reportedly injured on Wednesday when hundreds of youths invaded the main gate of the factory and had confrontations with the policemen guarding the plant.

The Corporate Affairs and Communication Department of the Dangote Group in a statement on Wednesday said several staff members of the company received gunshot wounds when over 500 armed members of the Kogi State’s security outfit, the Vigilantes, stormed the factory.

The statement added that the said vigilante group members were wielding arms of different kinds wheny the stormed the factory.

It added that the injured staff had been taken to hospitals for treatment.

But, in a swift reaction, the Kogi State government stated that it was jubilant youths who chased the workers away after sealing the factory.

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The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kinsley Fanwo, in a statement, said the state government sealed the factory in Obajana following agitations by Kogi indigenes on the questionable circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the company.

Reports from the communities on Thursday stated that the residents of the cement town were wearing mourning looks, bemoaning the unfolding crisis rocking their communities.

Many shops, business centres and eateries in the town remained under lock and key for fear of the unknown.

However, discordant tunes have been trailing the sealing of the company.

The mining community of Iwa and Oyo in the Obajana enclave described the action of the youth as falling short of maturity and civility.

In particular, the spokesperson of the Iwa mining community, Rotimi Kekereowo, stated that the coming on the stream of the company to their community had helped them, saying they will not support any action that will bring hardships to their community.

Also, the spokesperson for the Oyo mining community, Mr David Oluruntoba, called for caution, describing the incident as ‘’primitive and disgraceful’.

He said the community had just signed a Community Development Agreement (CDA) with the company besides providing them with jobs.

The Olu of Akpata in the mining community, Fredrick Balogun, said royal fathers “will continue to seek the path of reconciliation and amicable resolution of any misunderstanding. We don’t have issues with the company.”

Meanwhile, the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has said that the state is ready to open up discussions once Dangote Company Plc is ready to come clean.

The governor disclosed this in Lokoja on Thursday during the public presentation of the report of the Specialised Technical Committee on the Evaluation of the Legality of the Alleged Acquisition of Obajana Cement Company Plc by Dangote Cement Company Limited.

Bello said that he had taken the bold step in line with his mandate to safeguard the lives and livelihood of the people of Kogi.

“We received several petitions from the general public over this particular subject matter. In the past five to six years, all efforts to sit with the proprietors of the Dangote Conglomerate failed.

“We set up a committee to look into this and invited the Dangote company to discuss with them and tell them the imminent dangers they are exposing the people to, but it all fell on deaf ears,” he said.

Daily Trust

Related Topics:Dangote Cement Featured Kogi

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

8 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

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EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

9 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

9 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.