Police arrest lab employees over Lagos pupils’ sickness The Lagos State Police Command has apprehended four employees of Bizcircuit Photo Laboratory located in Ogba area of Lagos. The PUNCH had reported last week Friday that 22 pupils of Ogba Junior Grammar School fell unconscious after inhaling a chemical gas suspected to have emanated from the laboratory situated in Ogba Shopping Arcade, which shares a fence with the school. It was learnt that after the incident, state government officials sealed off the laboratory and the police arrested the employees on duty. It was learnt that the suspects are currently at the homicide department of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba. The company however dissociated itself from the incident, saying it was necessary for the police and the government to carry out a full scale investigation into the incident rather than concluding that the company was culpable. In a statement issued by the company’s media consultant, Mr. Frank Oshanugor, the company said its operations had always been in line with industrial standard for photographic laboratories. It added that effluents from used chemicals were not discharged externally but collected into containers within the laboratory for sale to end users who buy them “from time to time”. Oshanugor said, “As management of the company, we have taken steps to meet with officials of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency for diligent investigation, authorities of the Lagos State Police Command have been requested to release the four arrested employees as the company was not responsible for the unseemly occurrence.” The statement added that Bizcircuit Photo Laboratory was not in breach of any statutory requirement in the management of its business. However, officials of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency visited the school on Monday. The LASEPA team was led by the General Manager, Mr Adebola Shabi. Shabi said, “Investigation is still ongoing; we will be inspecting the laboratory on Tuesday with representatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.” Meanwhile, it was learnt that all the affected pupils have since been discharged from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 06:19:34 +0000
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