A pressure group, the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond, led by a senior lawyer, Femi Falana, in partnership with a law group, International Lawyers Assisting Workers, Oyo State chapter said on Tuesday that the state government had been petitioned in respect of the death of Ricard Gbadebo, a 300-level student of University of Ibadan, in a soap factory in Ibadan.
Gbadebo, a factory worker with Henkel Nigeria Limited, reportedly slipped into a soap making machine and died on July 28 during production at the plant.
The groups, in a petition filed by Abope Chambers, led by Femi Aborisade, a copy of which were sent to the Oyo State Director of Public Prosecution, accused the company of callousness and negligence in providing adequate security measures at the plant.
The petition read in parts, “Unless the Oyo State Government ensures justice for Richard Gbadebo, employers of labour may not take seriously the life, safety and health of workers by providing the necessary Personal Protective Equipment and fencing of every dangerous part of any machinery.
“It is the concern of our clients that Richard Gbadebo would not have been killed by the machinery he was working with if the necessary PPE was provided and the dangerous parts of the machinery were properly fenced to prevent the kind of calamity that befell Richard Gbadebo.
“The blood of Richard Gbadebo is crying for justice. Our clients demand justice for Richard Gbadebo.”
