Oyo Assembly orders probe into Sumal worker’s death

The Oyo State House of Assembly has ordered the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ayodele Sonubi, and the leadership of Operation Burst, to provide a thorough report on the event that resulted in the regrettable death of a casual employee during a recent demonstration at Sumal Foods Limited in Ibadan.

A representative of Ibadan South-west Constituency 1, Yusuf Adebisi, brought up the sad event for deliberation during plenary on Wednesday.

Mr Adebisi noted that several regrettable incidents had resulted in innocent lives being lost as a result of the poor welfare of casual workers.

He expressed displeasure at the level of casualisation and maltreatment of Nigerians working in some multinational companies in the nation.

He recalled how, years ago, a 21-year-old University of Ibadan student, Gbadebo Richard, who had taken up a job at a factory in Ibadan as a holiday job, fell into a soap-making machine and died in the process.

Also, he noted that a similar unfortunate incident occurred at the British American Tobacco Company, Ibadan, where a Nigerian casual worker died from exposure to nicotine and tobacco materials, and no action was taken.

In his submission, he said, “These distressing incidents happen regularly in various industries, particularly in those owned by Lebanese nationals in Ibadan.

“Mr Speaker, on Monday, 1 July 2024, a dreadful incident of assault, killing, and man-handling occurred at Yale 3 branch of Sumal Foods Limited, producer of Yale biscuits and a range of other snacks in Oluyole Industrial Estate in Ibadan South West Local Government Area. Two persons reportedly died and several others sustained injuries from live bullets fired by Nigeria Police officers and Operation Burst personnel.”

Following Mr Adebisi’s submission, a few legislators demanded that the international labour law be implemented in the state and that a probe be launched into circumstances that led to the worker’s death.

Speaker of the House, Adebo Ogundoyin, thereafter, issued a directive in response to the matter, which he described as being of urgent public importance.

Mr Ogundoyin said the incident was unfortunate and stressed the need to avoid recurrence.

PREMIUM TIMES, on 3 July 2024, reported that the two-day protest by factory workers at Sumal Foods Limited, left one of the protesters dead, two others injured and some properties destroyed.