By Amos Aar
THREE senior staff of a Makurdi-based ethanol-producing company, Pure Biotech Company Ltd, located along Makurdi-Gboko Road, Benue State capital, were last Monday arrested by men of the security Joint Task Force (JTF) code-named Operation Zenda following a fatal industrial accident.
The accident, which occurred two weeks ago, was said to have that led to the death of a welder (name withheld) and inflicted serious injuries on the company’s tanker driver, Mr Terdue Wisdom Akura, and his conductor.
The arrest of the senior staff is believed to be over alleged negligence on the part of the company for not providing safety operational measures which resulted in the fatal accident.
Although the arrested staff were released on Friday after five days in police custody, they are said to still be reporting to the police daily.
A staff of the ethanol producing company told National Record on condition of anonymity that the authorities of the Benue State government had last week sealed the company’s premises as a result of the lack of a standard safety department, as well as the absence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Hyacinth Alia’s portraits in the offices of the company as well as absence of the National Flag.
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Our source further revealed that the death of the welder due to lack of safety measures was the last straw that broke the camel’s back by provoking government to seal the company.
He added that no arrest was made on that day because the company’s senior officials did not come out of their offices.
Narrating how the welder died at the company, the source said: “When the driver took the tanker to the welder for welding after conveying ethanol, the tanker was not washed thoroughly to avoid explosion. When the welder fired it, there was an explosion which forcefully threw open the tanker’s bonnet and the impact flung the welder up before he landed on the ground dead. The explosion also affected the driver and conductor who were seriously injured but luckily survived.”
According to our source, the arrest of the company’s staff happened when the Chief Security Officer (CSO), the supervisor and one other senior staff went to interface with the Benue State Government last Monday to appeal for the re-opening of the company having fulfilled some requirements, they were arrested and detained at Operation Zenda’s office in Makurdi on the orders of relevant authorities of the state government.
He further hinted that some Chinese who are co-owners of the company arrived Benue State last Tuesday to bail the detained staff and had been lobbying since then which may have yielded result on Friday with the release of the company’s staff from custody.
When contacted to confirm the arrest of the staff, Benue State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of Police (SP) Sewuese Anene, told National Record that she was not aware of the development.
“I am not aware of this case please”, SP Anene responded.
A member of the host community, who also pleaded anonymity, corroborated the account of our source and further told this reporter that apart from the aforementioned issues, toxins from the company were still affecting them as River Benue and other water sources are still being badly polluted while the company remained unconcerned about the social amenities promised them.
“We said they should drill boreholes for us but they dug all shallow and substandard boreholes which could not stand the test of time and spoiled within a short period.
“There are many things that they are doing wrongly. Sometimes they release effluent into River Benue and sometimes they discharge it into that their reservoir which you came here and saw yourself the other time. They have not provided electricity for us till today,” our source from the community lamented.
