Ogun govt stops Dangote's plan to demolish

The Elefon Primary School in Elefon, in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the State, was to be demolished, but the Ogun State Government said it had thwarted the attempt by the Dangote Cement factory to do so.

This was verified to PUNCH Metro on Tuesday by Abayomi Arigbabu, the Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology.

During plenary, Yusuf Amosun, the lawmaker representing Ewekoro State Constituency, complained that the cement factory had allegedly demolished the primary school on the grounds that it had found mineral resources on the property.

Amosun personally explained to the assembly that Dangote Cement was alleged to have destroyed the school "without notice to the appropriate government agencies."

Consequently, the Speaker of the House, Olakunle Oluomo, condemned the alleged demolition of the primary school “under the guise of discovering mineral resources within the compound of the school.”

During a Tuesday phone call with our correspondent, the commissioner of education confirmed that the factory had blocked the school property a few weeks prior. But according to Arigbabu, the government intervened swiftly.

He claimed that Dangote Cement was forbidden from operating within the school by Governor Dapo Abiodun's order.

Asked if he was aware that the primary school at Elefon was demolished by Dangote Cement, Arigbabu retorted: “I am not aware that it has been demolished, but we have taken some steps. If you go there, you will see the extent of what they have done, though we have reacted to stop them.

“The governor actually gave approval to stop whatever was going on in that place. So, I wouldn’t know if they have done anything after that. We have stopped them; it’s about two weeks or three weeks ago.

“For us, we are not aware of any approval, if there’s any approval for them to do what they are doing, they should let us see it.

“We are not aware that any acquisition was made. The school belongs to the government. That is why we stopped them when we heard of it. I am sure they have stopped, unless if there’s  any latest information.”

In response, Dangote Cement refuted claims that it had destroyed the elementary school.

Source