The Ogun State Government on Sunday said it had begun an investigation into the industrial accidents that claimed the lives of two employees of Quantum Steel Industry, located in the Ogijo area of Sagamu Local Government Area of the state, following PUNCH reports.
The Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Environmental Protection Agency, Farook Akintunde, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Sunday.
Recall that PUNCH Metro investigation revealed how two employees of the factory, Abayomi and Pastor, were killed in separate industrial accidents within the space of about two weeks.
Our correspondent had gathered that the employee identified as Pastor’s death occurred during a night shift when a machine called Bucket reportedly hit him on the chest while working on the production line.
Speaking with our correspondent, Akintunde disclosed that the state government, upon receiving the report, immediately sent a team to the factory to carry out an investigation.
He claimed that the team gathered that one of the victims died as a result of health complications, according to medical reports.
He said that the government had, however, concluded to engage independent investigators to unravel the circumstances behind the incident.
Akintunde said, “Of course, that is part of our work. Once we heard the information, I put machinery in motion to make some findings and the investigators have gone there already.
“We are still going to intensify our findings, although the hospital gave us a scenario that may not be attributed to what happened in the facility because the hospital report indicated that the person involved gave up as a result of cardiac arrest.
“Notwithstanding that, we will still go ahead and conduct an audit, which is not going to be done by the government alone, because we do not want a situation where people will start alleging that the government is taking sides with the company.
“So, we will have to bring in independent auditors who will also conduct the investigations so that we can get to the root of the matter.”
Meanwhile, the Quantum Steel Industry has remained silent over the incidents, despite efforts by our correspondent to get its reaction.
PUNCH Metro reported on March 7 that the Ogun State Government sealed Quantum Steel Industry, and Xinfeng Plastics Limited along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, following two industrial accidents that occurred at the factories.
This followed industrial accidents that left one person dead and seven others with severe injuries.
Akintunde had stated that the government decided to shut down the companies to avert future occurrences.
