The Ogun State Government has sealed off five Chinese-owned companies and arrested some of their officials for allegedly attacking law enforcement officers and government staff who were enforcing compliance with environmental regulations.
The affected firms, located in the Ogere axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, are DL Plastics Limited, Dyschenghan Plastics, SH Agricultural Limited, Beautiful Fibre Limited, and Jincaicai Nigeria Limited.
According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment and Managing Director of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), Abayomi Hunye, the companies mobilised their workers to assault state officials who visited their premises to enforce a seal order after repeated violations.
“We have been on this case for the past six months. Letters were sent, and they were invited, but they refused to honour the invitations. Notices of intention to seal were pasted three months ago, yet they ignored them. When we sealed their gates last week, they broke government chains,” Hunye stated.
He added that when officials, accompanied by law enforcement officers, returned to the sites, they were attacked and injured.
Hunye stressed that the government would prosecute those responsible and warned that the state would not condone “barbaric acts” carried out under the guise of foreign investment.