Dangote Cement Plc, Africa’s largest cement producer, continues to announce record-breaking profits year after year.
In 2024 alone, the conglomerate posted billions in net gains, expanding its market dominance across Nigeria and beyond.
But behind the boardroom applause and glossy earnings reports lies a recurring tragedy that plays out on Nigerian roads — a pattern of deadly and injurious crashes involving Dangote trucks, leaving shattered bodies, broken families, and unfulfilled dreams in their wake.
In 2024 alone, multiple deadly and life-altering crashes involving the company’s heavy-duty vehicles were recorded across the country, leaving a trail of shattered families, lost livelihoods, and unanswered questions.
Survivors, victims’ relatives, and road safety advocates say these tragedies follow a disturbing pattern of recklessness, possible corporate negligence, and weak regulatory enforcement.
From Corporate Success to Human Tragedy
The most recent victims are three persons who were crushed to death last Sunday in Auchi, Edo State, after a Dangote truck suffered brake failure and rammed into a white Mercedes-Benz GLK along the Benin–Okene expressway.
Eyewitnesses said the impact of the collision mangled the car, which was carrying four occupants, killing three instantly and leaving one survivor critically injured.
The deadly crash comes just days after another horrifying incident involving a Dangote truck in the same Auchi axis.
This time, it involves a 26-year-old Ruth Otanor Bodom, a fresh Higher National Diploma graduate of Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State. Barely a week after completing her final exams in Marketing, her life took a devastating turn when a Dangote truck, allegedly driven by an unlicensed, underage driver, rammed into the motorcycle she was riding.
The impact crushed her leg beyond repair, forcing doctors to amputate it. Her second leg, doctors warn, may also need to be removed. Witnesses say the driver attempted to flee but was chased down by commercial motorcyclists. Police later confirmed he had no licence.
Bodom’s family alleges that authorities are attempting a cover-up.
“Police preliminary investigations show that the driver was not licensed to drive. How could they hand such a huge truck to a small boy? Why would Dangote, of all people, employ an unlicensed driver? This is exploitation, just to save costs,” her sister, Josephina Otabor, lamented.
The case, now in court, echoes numerous other incidents in which Dangote trucks have been linked to fatalities or serious injuries.
A Grim Pattern on Nigerian Roads
The Auchi crash is not an isolated incident.
Beyond the glowing financial headlines, a string of deadly and injurious road accidents involving Dangote trucks has been reported across Nigerian roads.
From Lagos to Kano, Abuja to Port Harcourt, Edo State to other parts of the country, Dangote trucks — often transporting cement, raw materials, or finished goods — have been involved in accidents that, according to witnesses and safety experts, might have been prevented with stricter training, better vehicle maintenance, and proper driver vetting.
In November 2023, three people were killed in Ogun State when a Dangote truck reportedly suffered brake failure and rammed into a commercial bus. In March 2024, a crash along the Abuja–Lokoja expressway involving another Dangote vehicle left two families mourning their breadwinners.
On April 28, 2024, along the Okene bypass on the Okene–Lokoja highway in Kogi State, a Dangote truck, alleged to have been driving against traffic and attempting a wrongful overtake, collided head-on with a Toyota Hiace bus travelling from Kano. The impact ignited an inferno that consumed the bus, killing 19 of the 22 passengers, all male, on board. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps confirmed that the crash was caused by route violation and reckless overtaking.
Just a month earlier, in March, tragedy struck in Abule Egba, Lagos, when a Dangote mixer truck suffered brake failure and veered onto a pedestrian path, crushing a woman to death. Witnesses said the vehicle, with registration number KANO MDB 531 XA, swerved inward toward a Mobil Filling Station near Jubilee Bridge, leaving the victim lifeless on the spot.
In October, two separate incidents occurred in quick succession. On the 24th, in the early hours near Area B, Apapa, Lagos, a Dangote truck struck a commercial motorcyclist and injured his female passenger. According to LASTMA officials, the driver’s reckless conduct was evident, and both he and his assistant fled the scene, abandoning the truck while the injured passenger was rushed to Apapa General Hospital.
The very next day, in Maryland, Lagos, a Dangote-owned MACK concrete mixer collided with a JustRite delivery truck as it was being loaded. The JustRite driver died instantly, and the Dangote truck, unable to halt its momentum, smashed into a nearby building, injuring two more people.
Barely two months later, on December 12, 2024, another Dangote truck tragedy unfolded in Jimtilo, along the Maiduguri–Damaturu road in Borno State. Witnesses said the speeding truck lost control and ploughed into a Borno State University bus carrying students home after their examinations. Two students — a final-year male and a second-year female — died instantly, while sixteen others were injured. Governor Babagana Zulum, visiting the scene, pledged medical care for survivors and ordered the accelerated completion of a trailer park designed to keep heavy-duty trucks out of the city.
Taken together, these incidents — scattered across states, months, and circumstances — reveal what road safety advocates describe as an “unacceptable pattern,” one in which corporate logistics operations are perceived to be overshadowing the basic duty of safeguarding human lives.
Traffic safety campaigner Engr. Tunde Aluko told reporters: “The public is quick to blame bad roads, but in many of these Dangote cases, you see clear driver negligence — overspeeding, poor rest periods, and in some cases, outright lack of licences. The company’s trucks are essentially weapons when mismanaged.”
The Profit Paradox
While these accidents devastate lives, Dangote Group continues to post huge financial gains.
In its 2024 annual report, Dangote Cement Plc announced profits of N503.2 billion, marking a 10 percent growth from the N455.6 billion recorded in 2023.
The company attributed the surge to increased sales volumes and strategic cost-cutting measures — including logistics efficiencies. In the same year, the group posted a revenue of N3.58 trillion in 2024, which was 62 percent higher than the N2.21 trillion recorded in 2023. With a gross profit of N1.9 trillion, Dangote’s Cement’s gross margin in 2024 was 54 percent.
Dangote Cement also reported an operating profit of N1.15 trillion in 2024, representing a 57% increase from the N734.3 billion recorded in 2023. The group’s pre-tax profit increased to N732.5 billion, from N553.1 billion recorded in 2023. With a net tax expense of N229.3 billion, the group’s net profit was N503.2 billion.
In the same year, the group said it recorded a revenue of N2.06 trillion from its cement sales in Nigeria. Dangote Cement Nigeria also exported about N128.3 billion worth of cement.
The group’s other African operations recorded a revenue of N1.48 trillion. Dangote Cement’s operations include cement production in South Africa, Ethiopia, Zambia, Senegal, Zambia, DR Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Congo. The group’s total assets grew to N6.4 trillion at the end of 2024. This represents a 63% increase from N3.94 trillion in 2023. Its net assets increased to N2.18 trillion, from N1.73 trillion as of 2023.
Critics argue that those logistics efficiencies often rely on the same vast trucking fleet that road users say poses safety concerns. Industry insiders claim that sub-contracting to independent truckers and cost-cutting on driver recruitment and training may be worsening safety standards.
Corporate Response and Public Skepticism
Following the Bodom accident, Dangote Cement Plc released a statement pledging comprehensive medical care and “appropriate compensation” for the victim.
“This action reflects our unwavering commitment to the well-being of those affected. We are ensuring full support for Mrs. Bodom in line with Dangote Group’s welfare policy,” the company said.
But road safety advocates argue that such reactive measures are not enough.
“We see this cycle every year, a terrible crash, a promise to help, then silence until the next tragedy. There’s no public safety audit, no annual accident data disclosure, no real reform,” said Rufus Aluko.
Regulators Under Fire
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and state traffic agencies have faced criticism for allegedly failing to hold powerful corporate fleets to higher safety standards. Victims’ families often claim the police mishandle crash investigations, particularly when influential companies are involved.
For Bodom’s family, justice means more than court proceedings; it means systemic change to prevent others from suffering the same fate.
“We don’t just want compensation,” Josephina said. “We want a situation where no other family has to go through this pain just because a company values profit over people’s lives.”
The Road Ahead
As Dangote Group celebrates another year of soaring profits, the question remains: how many more lives will be lost or forever altered before road safety becomes as much a corporate priority as the bottom line?
Until there is a genuine overhaul of driver recruitment, training, and fleet management — backed by stronger regulatory oversight — the grim paradox will persist: profits rising, while Nigerian lives are cut short or broken under the wheels of the nation’s most profitable trucks.
Dangote Group keeps mum
Anthony Chiejina, group chief, branding and communication, Dangote Group did not respond to NAIJAONPOINT inquiries as at press time.