Former Ogun State Governor lbikunle Amosun has denied sending police offers to assault the officials of Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited over a contractual disagreement.
Zhongshan had alleged that the Ogun State Government used the police to assault and unlawfully detain its workers after the government revoked its export processing zone management contract.
The company said its officials were assaulted by the police acting on orders from the state government, adding that the maltreatment compelled it to seek the seizure of Nigerian presidential jets in Paris, France.
Zhongshan further stated that it lost $1.078bn following the termination of the 2007 contract between the company and the Ogun State Government to manage a free-trade zone.
Reacting to the allegations via a statement on Saturday, August 17, 2024, Amosun, who served as the governor of Ogun State between 2011 and 2019, said Zhongshan was served with a formal termination notice dated May 27, 2016, after it was discovered that the company had no management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ).
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Amosun said: “It is not true that our administration sent police or any security agent to harass, intimidate, or beat anyone. If there was any such situation, it must have been from among the disputing rivals in the bid to outdo one another. Security agencies can further investigate the allegation and uphold the truth.
“Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear as doing so would amount to indulging and, encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimony.
“Stemming from the above, this matter of Zhongfu International Investment FXE should be treated the way Nigeria treated the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation.”
The former senator further declared his readiness to work with government agencies “in any capacity to ensure that Nigeria is not scammed by Zhongfu International Investment FXE, or any other entity.”
Amosun added: “Like every Nigerian, we are concerned that a purely business dispute between two Chinese nationals and corporations have now degenerated into an unlawful attempt to appropriate Nigeria’s sovereign assets.
“This is unacceptable to all people of goodwill and must not be allowed to stand.”
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