The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has accused the management of Dangote Cement Plc. of failing to fulfil its promises regarding some students of the Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State who were crushed to death by a truck belonging to the company.
Dangote Cement is one of the subsidiaries of Dangote Group, which is owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
Six students of the university and nine others were killed on January 23, 2021, when a truck belonging to Dangote Group, rammed into a shopping complex in Akungba Akoko.
The truck, which was heading for Owo from Obajana in Kogi State, had faulty brakes. The driver of the vehicle lost control and swerved off the road, ramming into some shops directly opposite the university.
Those killed included the former Students’ Union Government President of the university, Adesomoju Samuel and three siblings.
In a statement on Sunday by the NANS Vice President, External Affairs, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, NANS berated the company for failing to immortalise the victims of the tragic mishap as part of its appeasement to their families over two years after the incident.
It gave Dangote Cement 14 days to fulfil all the promises made to the families and as well immortalise the victims of the accident.
The statement read, “We write with great consternation mixed with an absolute shock, having been recently informed of the failure of Dangote Cement PLC to honour its promise to the families of the victims of the AAUA tragedy– which rocked the citadel of learning on the inauspicious afternoon of the 23rd of January, 2021, that claimed the life of the immediate past SUG president of the institution (SAMPRAISE).
“You will recall that the monumental tragedy, which claimed the lives of 8 promising students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, included the then President of the Students' Union Government, Comr. Adesomoju Samuel– popularly known and addressed by the nickname ‘SAMPRAISE’, in what has now been described as the bloodiest day in AAUA history.
“It is on record– both officially and publicly– that subsequent upon this mishap, Dangote Cement PLC, which is the parent company responsible for the tragedy, pledged to immediately immortalize the victims of the tragic mishap as part of its appeasement to their families.
“However, it has recently come to our attention that the promise –which in ordinary terms cannot equate to the lives lost– made by the company has not been taken with a pinch of salt let alone being fulfilled to date.
“This action, in itself, represents nothing but an unquantifiable sense of irresponsibility, insouciance and a lack of accountability, remorse, empathy and compassion on the families of all the deceased students.
“Sequel to this, we write to issue a 14-day ultimatum to Dangote Cement PLC to fulfill the promise made to the families and as well immortalize the victims of the accident with immediate effect.
“Let it be stated in emphatic terms that failure to comply with this will be taken as a challenge to the association and by extension, barefaced affront to the entire populace of Nigerian students, which we shall not hesitate to confront with all sense of aggression by the restriction of movement of all vehicles belonging to Dangote Cement PLC in the south-west, and also shutting down their operational headquarters in Lagos while also adopting other measures that the company may not be able to conceive let alone envisage even in their wildest imagination.
“Having said this, we shall take a brief pause for now and watch, with a keen sense of observation the chain of events that will happen within the next 14 days. A word is enough!”