An Ibadan-based factory, Expand Global Manufacturing Limited, has been sealed off by the Federal Government, as investigation commences into the death of a 21-year-old, Richard Gbadebo.
Officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment on Wednesday sealed the factory located in the Oluyole area of Ibadan.
Gbadebo who until his death on the 28th of July, was a 300-level student of the University of Ibadan, was a factory worker with a third party company, Henkel Nigeria Limited and was reported to have slipped into soap making machine during production and died.
The Company had in a statement through its Human Resources Manager, Mr Aliyu Jubril, expressed its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, saying it was working closely with the police and Ministry of Labour to ascertain the cause of the tragic incident, in spite of the stringent safety protocols in place for all workers.
Jubril gave the company’s assurances that it would continue to engage with the family of the deceased to provide the necessary support.
But the Federal Controller of Labour, Oyo State Office of the Ministry, Mr Femi Fatoki had revealed that reports around poor safety conditions precipitated the sealing of the facility.
“When we were informed about the accident, we came for investigation to actually know what happened and what led to the accident but we could not do much. The reason was because all the information we requested for and the document could not be supplied.
“But despite that, we are able to put up a preliminary investigation and it was based on the preliminary investigation that we ordered the sealing up of the factory,” he said.
Fatoki explained that the action is in conformity with Section 38 of the Nigerian Factory Act.
“It was identified that the company is a dangerous place to work in and we moved in to seal it up. The factory will remain sealed pending the outcome of a more comprehensive investigation report, which would determine whether or not the order would be lifted,” Fatoki maintained.
