Displaying items by tag: Riot

Mexico: State police have intervened during a confrontation between rival groups for control of Cruz Azul’s Tula cement plant in Hidalgo. A group of workers, allegedly numbering 1000 people, aligned to the faction that controls the majority of Cruz Azul’s cement plants travelled to the site in Jasso by bus and taxi on the evening of 26 July 2022, according to La Jornada newspaper. Another group defending the plant reportedly blocked local roads and used sticks, pipes and stones to repel the assault. The police managed to deter most of the convoy travelling to the plant. However, eight deaths occurred when some of the attackers made it through.

The Tula cement plant is the sole remaining Cruz Azul unit still controlled by former company director Guillermo ‘Billy’ Álvarez and his associates. The rest of the company is under the command of Cruz Azul’s directors José Antonio Marín and Víctor Manuel Velázquez.

India: A gas pipeline explosion at JP Cement’s Naubasta cement plant in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district reportedly injured three workers in February 2022. India Today News has reported that the incident resulted in the hospitalisation of all three workers. 15 – 20 local people subsequently attacked the plant on 11 March 2022, where they threw sticks and stones at staff and vandalised equipment. A spokesperson for the rioters accused the company of suppressing news of the pipeline disaster.

Zambia: Zambezi Portland Cement is facing fresh legal proceedings over its ownership. The Lusaka Times newspaper reports that proceedings at the Court of Appeal are ongoing against businessman Phesto Musonda. Musonda, a former director of the company, allegedly attempted to take control of part of the company’s plant in September 2021. Unrest has also been reported at the cement producer’s plant with youths throwing stones at workers.

The current owners of Zambezi Portland Cement, the Ventriglia family, previously won a 10-year battle of control of the company against businessman Rajan Mahtani. In 2018 the High Court of Zambia awarded the family full ownership of the business.

India: Police have fired warning shots after protesters outside LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC’s Sindri cement plant in Jharkhand threw stones at them, according to the Pioneer newspaper. Sub-divisional manager Satyendar Kumar’s officers made three arrests. Residents of Dhanbad district are reportedly protesting a lack of local jobs. ACC had been in talks with local people when the disturbance broke out.

Myanmar: Police say that protestors rioting about the Alpha Cement plant at Patheingyi, Kyaukse district in the Mandalay region in mid-May 2019 caused over US$40,000 worth of damage to the site. Residents armed with slings and rocks entered the site and set fire to buildings and vehicles, according to the Myanmar Times newspaper. A petrol bomb was also thrown at a building. The police are still looking for several people in relation to the incident.

Local residents were complaining about compensation related to the project as well as the use of Chinese nationals at the site. The plant, previously known as Myanmar Conch Cement, is a joint venture between Myanmar's Myint Investment Group and China's Anhui Conch. The unit is currently being upgraded to a production capacity of 5000t/day. Construction work started in late 2017. The unit is expected to be operational in 2021.

Ethiopia: Rioters have set fire to trucks and machinery at the Dangote cement plant at Ada Berga in Oromia, according to the Ethiopian state broadcaster Fana. The riots have followed the deaths of at least 55 people in a stampede at a local religious festival on 2 October 2016. Regional government offices were also set on fire and a police station was stormed during the fracas.

India: Local villagers have been accused of setting fire to the JK Lakshmi Cement plant at Malpuri Khurd in Durg district on 4 April 2013. Police arrested 50 people following the disturbance.

Villagers of Malpuri Khurd, located around 50km from the state capital, were staging demonstrations in demand for jobs at the cement plant in exchange for their farmland. According to police reports the protest turned violent as around 200 protesters set fire to infrastructure including the cement plant, cars and tractors on the on the 80-acre site.

A company official for JK Lakshmi Cement estimated the loss in the fire to be around US$92m to US$128m, stating that almost 50% of the plant was gutted in the fire. The plant 's employees and officers also alleged that they were attacked by the mob.

However, villagers claim they did not set fire to the plant. Some villagers have been reported as having left their homes fearing police retaliation and local media has reported claims of intimidation by the plant management.

Kenya: Attempts by the suspended East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) managing director, Kephar Tande, to serve the management with court orders re-instating him ended in chaos yesterday when more than 1000 workers blocked him and his police escort as he attempted to leave the plant. One of the protesting workers was shot in the arm by a security officer at the plant who had wrestled a rifle from a nearby police officer. Following this the staff set fire to two vehicles and completely sealed the entries to the company premises.

Riot police used tear gas as workers shouted that they would only allow the police to escort Tande 'over their dead bodies.' The injured employee was given first aid at the company hospital and was later transferred to Mater Hospital in Nairobi.

Youth Affairs Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti had earlier addressed the staff at the site and appealed to them to return to work. Ndeti told the workers that she had attended a meeting with the prime minister, Raila Odinga, and three senior ministers on 15 January 2012, which had resolved that the entire board of EAPCC should be fired. "The Prime Minister was in agreement with us that the entire board of directors will have to go home," she said. "From next week you will be hearing good news of new board members," she said.

On 17 January 2012 Kenya's Capital Market Authority (CMA) imposed a 60-day trading ban on the already suspended shares of EAPCC to protect investors from the dispute.

Nigeria: A disagreement between two workers at the Dangote Benue Cement factory in Gboko, Benue State escalated into a full-scale blood-bath on 17 August 2011, leading to reports of 20 deaths and the destruction of 154 trucks and 60 cars belonging to the company. Gboko itself has become a 'ghost town' after residents fled the town.

The violence started following a simple disagreement at a snack stand between two co-workers, a truck driver, named locally as Suleiman and the operator of the snack stand reported to be a Miss Kwaghkure. Apparently an agreement for Suleiman to be granted credit turned sour when he became unable to pay his debt and slapped Kwaghkure. This prompted an escalation in violence between those supporting the two parties and soon spread into full-scale looting of the plant, halting production.

Violence spread to the nearby town, where banks came under attack and the carnage even spilled out onto the local highway where innocent commuters were robbed. It is not known whether Suleiman or Kwaghkure are among the dead.

The plant's general manager (finance), Mike Etu, ruled out a tribal or religious dispute, saying it was purely driven by the interests of those involved. He lamented that although Dangote had been operating with the interest of the host community at heart, it had been under constant threat from cement looters. He expressed severe regret over the events and gave condolences for the dead and those affected by the incident.Dangote had previously ramped-up its security arrangements at the plant following smaller disputes.