Resolve Dispute Between Dangote Cement And Kogi Government, MAN Urges F.G

The Federal Government has on Thursday been urged to take urgent steps to amicably resolve the dispute between Dangote Cement Plc Plant, Obajana and the Kogi Government over land ownership.

The plea was made by Mr Mansur Ahmed, the MAN President, while briefing newsmen in Lagos, on the association’s 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM) with the theme: “An Agenda for Nigeria’s Industrialisation for the Next Decade”.

It was earlier reported  that the Dangote Cement Factory, Obajana, was on Wednesday sealed by some indigenes over alleged questionable circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the company.

The Kogi State House of Assembly had ordered the closure of the company after its investigation into the Cement factory’s operation allegedly revealed that no valid acquisition took place for the company.

The management of Dangote Cement had claimed that no fewer than seven of its staff members were shot and several others injured by the over 500 armed members of the state’s security outfit, the Vigilantes, that stormed the cement factory.

Ahmed described the development as “worrisome and unnecessary use of strong-arm tactics”.

According to him, the action taken by the state government was illegitimate and could have been appropriately addressed, using legal means.

“The development is very worrisome that a government should take measures like that to shutdown a plant that provides jobs and economic activities of large numbers of people in the state.

“The appropriate thing to do is to take the company to court, because this action is illegal and won’t happen in any normally managed economic situation.

“There are ways of resolving amicably and not to use strong-arm tactics.

“We hope the Federal Government will intervene so that such an issue is not repeated,” he said.