The lingering internal crisis rocking Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited, located at Igbesa, Ogun State, took a new twist this week as one of the feuding parties laid some allegations against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun as published in some media outlets.
But in response, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Chen Dongfeng, has dismissed and described the allegations as not only fallacious,falsehood, blatant lies, empty and a figment of imagination of Mr. Zhang Kefeng , but also purported plot to mislead the public.
He therefore urged the public, shareholders, stakeholders, staff and the entire public to disregard the report and the allegations.
In the report,Mr. Zhang Kefeng, one of the company managers and others that include Mrs. Zhang Linshuang, Mr.Liu Zhengyu and Mrs.Liao Yuzhen had alleged that the IGP was “using police to intimidate and harass the directors and shareholders of the company in favour of two others” referring to the Managing Director,Mr. Chen Dongfeng, and another shareholder, Mr. Kong Jun.
They had also alleged that “the IGP is doing the bidding of Mr. Chen Dongfeng and Mr.Kong Jun” by using police to deny workers assess to the company.
According to the report,Mr. Zhang Kefeng had issued a letter of petition to President Bola Tinubu to “call the IGP to order and also intervene in the matter.
Mr. Chen Dongfeng also absolved the IGP of any blames, insisting that he had no hand in the matter in any way whatsoever and that the Nigerian police did not seal the factory of Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited as alleged.
He said that it was Mr. Zhang Kefeng and other conspirators that he has been conniving with that had been the brain behind the crisis rocking the company.
Mr. Chen Dongfeng who stressed the need to put the report in a proper perspective, went down memory lane to tell the story of all that had transpired and later degenerated to the present lingering rift in the company.
“After the company was established in 2014, I, the Managing Director and the Chairman invited some other Shareholders/Directors in 2015 to join the company. There are seven Shareholders and Directors in the company as at today and all are Chinese,” the MD said.
He added: “All the directors came together and made an agreement that under no circumstance must any shareholder establish a personal or any private company in Nigeria to also produce ceramic tiles that Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited produces to avoid conflict of interest and unnecessary competition between shareholders of the same company (Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited)”
“There was also an agreement that any shareholder who violated the agreement would lose his or her position as a Shareholder and as a Director and his shares would be confiscated by the company. But it was later discovered that Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his sister, Mrs. Zhang Linshuang went underground and established another ceramic tiles company and started producing ceramic tiles at Sagamu, Ogun State thereby violating the company’s agreement.
While tracing the genesis of the crisis in the company, the MD further stated: “The current crisis started when two of our shareholders Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his sister, Mrs. Zhang Linshuang, went underground in 2022 and established a factory in Ogun State under another parallel company known as Nigeria Royal Castle Ceramics Company Limited and started producing ceramic tiles, the same product that Crown Ceramic Nigeria Limited produces. This was considered as a betrayal of trust and gross violation of the earlier agreement among Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited’s Shareholders and Directors.”
Mr. Chen Dongfeng added that Mr. Zhang Kefeng, as a manager, used to stand in for him (the MD) whenever he travelled out of the country, but he later started taking advantage of the position and defrauded the company by diverting Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited’s imported materials and local raw materials to Nigeria Royal Castle Ceramics Company Limited– owned by Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his sister Mrs. Zhang Linshuang without the consent and permission of Managing Director and other shareholders of Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited.
“Whenever he was caught in the act, his excuse was that he borrowed those materials. It was also discovered that he was using Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited’s business ideas and secrets to produce the same design of tiles produced by Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited’s in his company. He was also diverting Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited’s distributors and trained staff to his company for patronage. Even his sister, Mrs. Zhang Linshuang converted company’s money into her appointed account unknown to the company for her personal use”
According to him, Mr. Zhang Kefeng also held a series of nocturnal meetings with other three shareholders aimed at removing the chairman and the managing director.They were working against the articles of association of the company. Sometimes they would issue a memo that they had removed the MD and appointed a new chairman.
While further explaining how Mr. Zhang Kefeng had been spearheading the crisis in the company, the MD said: “In April this year (2025), the conspirators also invaded the company with a truck load of armed Chinese security agents known as Sheriff (see the pictures here with attached), thugs and unknown armed security personnel to take over the company. But the management of Crown Ceramics invited other policemen to restore order to the company.”
He also disclosed that there was a time the conspirators wrote a petition to the Monitoring Unit in Abuja to arrest him (the MD) and one of the shareholders, Mr.Kong Jun who were later invited to the Unit for interrogation.
Mr. Chen Donfeng added that he and Mr. Kong Jun also wrote their own petition to the IGP which was addressed to the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to investigate the matter. The two parties were advised to make peace and go back, come up with their demands and send them to the SIU to resolve the crisis.
Mr. Dongfeng also recalled how Mr. Zhang Kefeng’s team has been festering the crisis in the company.
“A few days ago, one of them, a female shareholder–Mrs. Liao Yuzhen, invaded the company’s premises with over 20 Chinese people, some unknown armed security personnel and local security personnel. But they were not allowed by Crown Ceramics security at the entrance gate to enter the premises due to the security threat that was posed. The MD, however stated that during the invasion by Mrs.Liao Yuzhen, nobody fought anybody.
“She was told that if she must go in, she could go alone, but going in with many people unknown to the company was not allowed, only for us to wake up a few days ago to read a report in the media that Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his team had accused the Inspector General of Police of sealing our factory and that he is siding me and my team,” Mr. Chen Dongfeng said.
The MD also said that Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his team has taken the matter to a court in Abeokuta, while my group and I also took the matter to a court in Lagos.
Speaking further on the extent to which Mr. Zhang Kefeng and his team had been fueling the crisis, the MD said: “Owing to their desperation to take over the management of the company, they recently went and hired a truckload of thugs and invaded the company’s premises but later ran away before the police we invited came to restore order.”
“It was after this lawlessness that they got a story published in the media, accusing the IGP of using his power in favour of the company to harass them and deny them access to the company. But the allegation is purely false.
“From all indications, the allegation that the IGP is doing our bidding is a blatant lie. There is no truth in it. They said many things that are not true,” Mr. Chen Dongfeng stressed.
“Also, the allegation that I as the MD and my team had taken a deliberate action to hijack the company from the major shareholders and that the IGP was using police to deny workers access to the company is completed falsehood because the company has been going on the way it has been going since 2014 when it was established.
“The management remains the same, the status quo is maintained, the workers are working and being paid their salaries, everything is going on as a company.
“Therefore, all that Mr. Zhang Kefeng is concocting against the IGP are lies. Nobody sealed the company, the company is operating fully without any interruption whatsoever(See the pictures and videos here with attached). The IGP didn’t give any order to seal the company,” the MD stressed.
“Worryingly too, Mr. Zhang Kefeng has been tarnishing the image of the company as he and his son–Mr. Zhang Dahui (who is currently on the run ), started using the company’s name to defraud many Chinese nationals of huge sums of money. The victims have been complaining to the company and making demands for the refund of their money.
“Also, the petition written to President Bola Tinubu to call the IGP to order and to also seek his intervention is not necessary because the case between all the parties are already before the courts of law.
“My position as the MD of Crown Ceramics Nigeria Limited is that the matter should be settled by the courts,” Mr. Chen Dongfeng stressed.
Leave a comment