Dangote Cement Plc has disowned a truck laden with cement that collided with a bus on the Okene-Lokoja bypass in Kogi State, leading to the death of some passengers.
The company however, expressed sadness over the incident and condoled with the families of the victims, urging the public to disregard the erroneous news that its truck was responsible for the fatal accident.
Tony Chiejina, Dangote Group’s chief branding & communications officer, explained in a statement that various background checks from the company’s Transport and Logistics Unit showed that the truck in question belonged to a third party who was using it for his cement business, adding that “it does not belong to Dangote Cement.”
Chiejina noted that Dangote Cement has put several measures in place to curb the menace of road accidents. Some of these measures, he stated, include frequent and regular training for drivers, constant checks, and maintenance of trucks, among others.
On Sunday, April 28, at least 19 persons were burnt to death in an auto crash on Okene Bypass on the Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi.
The Federal Road Safety Corps stated in Abuja that the crash involved a Dangote Cement truck and a Toyota Hiace bus. The agency explained that the Toyota bus was travelling from Kano and was on its lane when the Dangote truck driver travelling from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle and collided head-on with the bus.
But in its statement, Dangote Cement plc stressed, “We state categorically that the truck laden with cement which was involved in the said crash does not belong to us”.
