Friday, August 24, 2012

AFRICA: NIGERIA: Crisis: Dangote Cement, Ogun communities meet



The management of Dangote Cement Company has appealed to the traditional authorities in Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State to prevail on the people in their domain to maintain peace at all times.

The company has also announced its plan raise production capacity to 12 million metric tons of cement per annum.

The management, which factory was located in Ibese, said commerce and industry could only thrive in the area under a peaceful atmosphere.

The Dangote Group General Manager (Administration), Mr. Joseph Alaba, said this at a meeting with 60-member Council of Baales (Community heads) in the council in Ibese recently.

Alaba, who spoke against the backdrop of the recent inter-ethnic clashes in the area arising from a disagreement between two men over a prostitute, said members of staff and the host community had resolved to live together peacefully.

Last month, hostilities had broken out between the Hausa and the Yoruba indigenes in Ibese over the matter, resulting in the loss of lives and destruction of property worth hundreds of millions of Naira.

It took the intervention of the police to quell the crisis and return peace to the town after days of fighting between the members of the two ethnic stocks.

In his response, the Chairman of the traditional council, Chief Solomon Akinlotan, expressed sadness over the recent incident in Ibese and condoled with the company and the people of the area.

Akinlotan said that the the council would do everything within its powers to ensure peace continued to reign in the area