Labour Minister storms Ogun, shuts battery firm over unsafe practice
The Minister of Labour and Employment (State), Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha on Friday stormed Ogun State and shut down Metal Manufacturing Company, Gbara, near Sotubo, in Sagamu Local Government for exposing workers to dangerous health hazards.
Onyejeocha who stormed
the factory around 2pm, said she had received petitions against the unhealthy practices of the firm
According to her, the company, which is into battery manufacturing, has failed to provide protective gear for the workers despite several warnings from the Occupational Safety and Health department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Onyejeocha said that the recalcitrant attitude of the management of the company to abide by the law of the country and ensure that its workforce operate in line with the global standards practice forced her to come down to the State to impose sanctions.
She said: “After being told of what is happening here at this company, I told my staff to come around and instruct them to do what the law says, because they deal with lead which is quite harmful. I told them that the company should do some cleaning up and ensure that their workers are properly kitted so that their lives will not just be endangered unnecessarily but I later got the report that the company has refused to do anything.
“So I said, let me come here from Abuja to see things for myself and what I have seen here is worse than what was described to me. It is totally awful and unacceptable.
“I have never seen the kind of irresponsibility I am seeing at this factory from any manufacturer though, they are telling me that theirs is still better but I have told them that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will never tolerate this illegality, especially for those who considered the country as a dumping ground and where they could get cheap labour and do things to suit them, making money at the expense of Nigerians.