A Nigerian woman, Mrs. Susan Ogbu, has filed a $250,000 (approximately N300 million) lawsuit against Promasidor Nigeria Limited and its parent company, Promasidor Holdings, over the death of her 26-year-old son, Patrick Ogbu, in a factory accident.
Filed at the National Industrial Court in Lagos (Suit No. NICN/LA/361/2024), the suit accuses Promasidor and other defendants of gross negligence and unsafe work conditions that allegedly led to Patrick’s death.
Other parties named in the case include safety consultant Dapo Omolade, Hybrid Group Limited, Hybrid HSE Limited, Bohlar Integrated Services, and the Minister of Labour and Employment.
Through her lawyer, David Kupolati, Mrs. Ogbu is seeking N300 million in compensation and N150 million in general damages. She is also requesting 21% annual interest on the judgment sum until full payment is made, as well as N5 million in legal costs.
Patrick Ogbu had joined the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) trainee program on April 1, 2024, under the Dapo Omolade Empowerment Initiative, with a monthly stipend of N65,000.
On August 9, 2024, he was deployed to Promasidor Nigeria’s Lagos facility by Bohlar Integrated Services.
That same day, he reportedly fell from the factory rooftop into a warehouse and died.
Mrs. Ogbu blames her son’s death on what she describes as “gross negligence and unsafe practices” by the defendants. She is also calling on the court to direct the Minister of Labour to investigate the DOME initiative and apply appropriate sanctions, as well as conduct a full safety audit of Promasidor’s facilities in Lagos and Ogun States.
In their defense, the first to fourth defendants, represented by counsel Azeez Alaka, denied the allegations.
They claimed that Dapo Omolade operates independently of Hybrid Group and described the DOME initiative as a legitimate training program aimed at equipping youths with practical HSE skills.
The defense argued that Patrick Ogbu violated safety protocols by accessing a rooftop without the proper Permit to Work and failing to enforce the site’s “No Permit, No Work” policy.
They asserted that the program was not exploitative but rather a fully sponsored effort to provide young Nigerians with job experience and stipends.
Mrs. Ogbu, however, maintains that the program was a cover to supply cheap labour, and that her son’s death resulted from a failure by all parties involved to provide a safe working environment.