Rights activist and lawyer, Femi Aborisade, has asked the Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Oyewo Oyelowo, to commence prosecution of Henkel Nigeria Limited and Expand Global Industries Limited for causing the death of Richard Gbadebo, a student of the University of Ibadan.
Aborisade, in a letter to the AG, appealed that the company should be prosecuted due to its failure to “observe duty of care”.He said, “Nigeria is a country governed by laws. Under the laws of Nigeria, it is obligatory for the owner of a factory to exercise duty of care and provide safety measures to safeguard life, where the operations in the factory involve working with anything, whether living or inanimate, and whether moving or stationary, of such a nature that, may endanger life.
“No official of the companies was available to give account of the circumstances that led to the death of his son. The corpse of Late Richard Gbadebo was not removed from the companies’ premises until around 12noon and taken to Teju Hospital, Ring Road, Ibadan, between the hours of 1-2pm on the 28th day of July 2020. For undisclosed reasons, the two companies delayed taking the corpse for an autopsy until today, 3rd day of August 2020.
“Our clients, specifically, the family of Richard Gbadebo, briefed us that up till today, 3rd August 2020, no official explanation as to the circumstances leading to the death of Richard Gbadebo has been made to the family.