Oyo State Ministry of Environment on Thursday sealed up Henkel Nigeria Limited, the soap factory, where Richard Gbadebo, a-300-level student of the Department of European Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, died in an industrial accident on Monday, this week.
The 21-year-old Richard was said to have died after he fell into a soap-making machine of the factory, maker of WAW detergent and bar soap. The deceased student was said to be on night shift. Nylon was said to have rolled round his hand and in the process of trying to detach himself, the nylon drew him into the machine, which was said to have crushed him.
The deceased’s co-workers, as gathered, were not aware that the machine had crushed Richard, until they saw blood coming out through the other side of the machine.
But there was a mild drama when officials of the Department of Pollution Monitoring and Quality Control of the ministry, led by the permanent secretary, Dr. Bashir Olanrewaju, got to the premises of the factory at Oluyole Estate Extension to seal it up to pave way for investigation into the incident.
Some workers of the factory reportedly resisted the move by the government and held the ministry officials and journalists that followed them hostage for about 30 minutes, before the Commissioner of Police in the state, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, intervened and got them released.
The government officials, howwver, directed all workers in the factory to exit the whole premises before they padlocking all the gates and sealed up the factory.
Sealing up the factory, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Olanrewaju, said the interest of the state government is to provide jobs, and ensure safety and security of its citizens, but the company failed to report the incident to the government since Tuesday, adding that ministry only read about the incident in the news.
The Director, Pollution Monitoring and Quality Control, Mrs. Modupe Adeleye, said the government would start thorough investigation into activities that led to the death of Richard, who was said to be an intern in the factory.
Meanwhile, the Landlord Association of Oluyole Estate Extension, led by Mr .Bayo Scott-Ashley, was at the factory on Thursday and lodged complaints of environmental pollution. Scott-Ashley, was also supported in lodging the complaints by Prof.Veronica Obatolu.
