The French government has approved investigation against Lafarge Cement, a cement conglomerate with plants in Ewekoro,Ogun state and other parts of Nigeria, for paying and communicating with the ISIS- an Islamic terrorist group in Syria via their local branch.
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Hence, Tuesday September 7, 2021, the highest court in France; The Court of Appeal has ruled against Larfage,the cement conglomerate as being culpable in law for investigation.
It is alleged that Lafarge paid millions of dollars to the Islamic State terrorists as protection money to keep their plant open in areas controlled by Isis between 2012 and 2014.
It will be recalled that the cement conglomerate has been in the eye of the storm since 2018 over its dealings with Islamic fundamentalist group, ISIS, when it was charged by a French court with complicity in crimes against humanity and financing terrorists and for allegedly paying millions of dollars to Jihadists including the Islamic state group to keep a factory open in war-torn Syria.
It is not yet known what the federal government of Nigeria now battling to control terrorists in the country would do in the face of a new evidence by a foreign court of a multinational with plants in the country.
Whatever it is, the exposure on Larfarge, a competitor in the booming cement trade in the country could come under serious public scrutiny and investigations.
This becomes imperative with the increasing rate of terrorist activities in Nigeria where most of the Northern states like Borno,Yobe,Zamfara,
Benue , Plateau and some states in the south like Ekiti and Oyo are reeling under the activities of kidnappers.
Schools in most parts of Kaduna,Yobe, Zamfara have had their hostels under lock and key for the past five months as a result of the activities of terrorists masquerading under different guise and kidnapping for ransome.
Indeed, Katsina state governor,Aminu Masari did the unthinkable Monday as he described bandits kidnapping for ransome in his state as criminals and bandits and said they should be treated as such.
Source:Aljazeera with Agency reports
