How WAW Management Held Government Officials Hostage Amid Justice For Richard Investigations

An Oyo State Government official has claimed that the factory management of the company where a 300-level University of Ibadan student, Gbadebo Richard, was killed, held some officials hostage when they tried to seal the facility to aid the investigation.

The Permanent Secretary, Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Dr. Bashir Olanrewaju disclosed that the factory management held him and other officials hostage.

Dr. Olanrewaju led officials of the Department of Pollution Monitoring and Quality Control of the ministry to the factory at Oluyole Estate Extension, to seal it and ensure that it was ready for investigation. However, some of the company’s management and workers resisted by holding the officials hostage for about 30 minutes, before the State Commissioner of Police, Nwachukwu Enwonwu, intervened in their release.

Mr. Olanrewaju said, “The intention was to talk to them, not necessarily to disgrace them, as they need to be producing under a very safe environment. It was also to investigate to know how it actually happened, with a view to preventing such in the future.”

He continued, “But the management resisted our men when we got there. We were held hostage. I was one of those held hostage. We invited the police and we were rescued, when the police came. Immediately, we called the police and they rescued us.”

“We are conducting an investigation. After that, we will decide the next line of action to determine their culpability, whether the accident was preventable or not preventable, whether they made some mistakes and how the mistakes could have been prevented,” he added.