The crisis over the ownership of the Obajana cement plant in Kogi deepened on Friday as the State Government under the leadership of Yahaya Bello and Dangote Cement Plc, continued to lay claims to the facility.
The management of the firm also vowed to take legal action over the recent invasion of the plant and the shooting of its employees by armed vigilantes allegedly on the orders of the government.
There was pandemonium on Wednesday when officials of the Kogi State Government reportedly moved to seal the cement plant which it claimed belonged to the State.
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Although the government said one person was shot during the chaos that ensued, the cement company claimed that 27 of its workers were shot by vigilantes acting on the orders of the state government.
“As a first step, the Specialised Technical Committee on the Evaluation of the Legality of the Alleged Acquisition of Obajana Cement Company Plc by Dangote Cement Company Limited has expressly asked the Kogi State Government to cancel the existing seven Certificates of Occupancy.
“This is part of the recommendations contained in the report of the 10-man committee, headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. (Mrs) Folashade Ayoade, and submitted to Governor Yahaya Bello of the State.
“It’s very important to make it clear to the general public that the state has all the relevant documents to prove that the purported acquisition of Obajana by Dangote was null and void,” the Information Commissioner, Kingsley Fanwo, said in a statement issued in Lokoja on Friday.