Owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) claims to be the biggest supplier of sugar in sub-Saharan Africa.

Boasting a turnover of N441 billion (£209 million), most of DSR’s 8,318 employees are on part-time contracts at a giant facility in Numan, Adamawa State in the east of Nigeria.

Here, sugarcane is grown and refined.

Two years ago, Jennifer Ugwa, an investigative journalist from Nigeria who had completed a week long Finance Uncovered training course in Abuja in 2019, contacted us asking for help.

She and her colleague Amos Abba were investigating the circumstances behind the fatal shooting of a man inadvertently drawn into violent protests outside the gates of DSR’s Numan sugar plant in July 2021 when others also sustained bullet wounds.

They believed the company was sweeping details of the tragedy under the carpet.

They wanted FU’s help to inject financial details into their story and ask shareholders of DSR whether they were happy with how the company handled the protest.

We guided the two journalists through DSR’s annual reports helping them verify revenues, profits and dividends. We also helped the journalists identify key shareholders and confirmed that the reports contained no mention of the violent protests.

This then provided the platform for their further research.

The protests were sparked by the company’s policy of placing most workers on temporary contracts.

According to a statement from DSR at the time, three people sustained minor injuries in the fracas, and nothing more.

The military also denied anyone was shot.

However, a dozen eyewitnesses, backed up by medical documents, photographs, police statements, and an autopsy obtained by reporters, told a different story.

By these accounts, most of which had never been reported before, at least 12 people were injured that day.

The injured include five protesters who were allegedly shot by soldiers. One of them, Gad Jacob, 26, died a few days later in a local hospital.

But there was another significant strand to Ugwa and Abbas's research.

The journalists were aware that local communities were complaining of illnesses and that farmers’ livelihoods were ruined because their crops were failing.

They spoke to Dangote workers whose duties included spraying crops.

They told the reporters they suffered chest pains, breathing difficulties and painful rashes.

One of the sprayers they interviewed in 2022 said medical x-rays had revealed lesions on his lungs. He died in 2023.

The journalists discovered Dangote workers were spraying chemicals banned in other countries for causing cancer, or harming people’s kidneys and livers.

A ban was to have been imposed in Nigeria but its introduction was being repeatedly delayed.

These two young journalists - now both in the US having won prestigious journalism fellowships - were determined to establish if water sources in the immediate vicinity of the refinery showed any signs of contamination.

So they applied to JournalismFund Europe for a grant. This, among other benefits, gave the reporters funds to take samples from affected areas and have them tested by a recognised laboratory.

Laboratory analysis suggested all water samples were laden with what were considered to be dangerously high quantities of toxic heavy metals.

The reporters could not prove that this was a result of the sugar refinery. But the samples were undoubtedly a concern.

DSR did not respond to multiple requests for comments on the violence associated with the protests.

Most of its shareholders also declined to comment.

But one – Robeco Institutional Asset Management – told reporters it was not aware of the protests and would investigate.

DSR also did not respond to whether it had contributed to high levels of toxic heavy metals in water sources near the plant.

But in its annual report, DSR claimed it has a sterling environmental track record. The company said it carried out “monthly full environmental monitoring in line with NESREA regulations”, uses an effluent treatment plant to treat its wastewater before it is released, and employs accredited companies to dispose of its waste.

After prolonged editing from the Finance Uncovered team, Jennifer and Amos completed both parts of their investigation. The articles were published with the respected Foundation for Investigative Journalism in Nigeria in September 2024.

Please read:

• The Deadly Protest Nigeria’s Top Sugar Refinery Doesn’t Want You to Know About
• Flooded farms, poisoned water: the pollution “caused by Nigeria’s largest sugar refinery”

This was the fourth time we had mentored Jennifer on stories since 2019:

• The first story looked at sky high pay awards to Guinness Nigeria executives at a time of swingeing job cuts.
• The second was a deep dive into hazardous electric consumer goods from Europe dumped in Nigeria.
• The third, earlier this year, was an investigation into the booming loan shark industry in Nigeria.

This article was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe