Anas Ibrahim, a truck driver with Dangote Cement, has taken legal action against the company for neglecting and sacking him after sustaining severe injuries in the line of duty.

On July 1, 2020, Ibrahim was travelling along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway when a vehicle ran into the Dangote truck he was driving after offloading bags of cement at the company’s depot.

He was first taken to the Sango Otta General Hospital in Ogun State after losing consciousness. He would later be transferred to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, and then to Mohammed Sunusi Specialist Hospital, Kano, where he currently is.

The road accident victim said he suffered three broken ribs and a complex fracture on his limbs, according to Daily Nigerian.

Through his lawyer, Ibrahim dragged Dangote Cement to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Kano.

READ ALSO: How Dangote Refinery Ruined the Economy of the Ancient Town of Lekki

The complainant told the court that the company abandoned him and refused to settle his medical bills after terminating his employment.

He sought an order of the court, asking Dangote to pay him N50 million as compensation, N10m as exemplary damages and N1 million as legal fee.

‘WE’RE JUST MOURNING OUR VICE PRESIDENT’

Anthony Chiejina, the Dangote Group’s spokesperson, told FIJ that he could not comment on Ibrahim’s case because he was still mourning the death of Sani Dangote, the Vice President of the company.

In November, Aliko Dangote, the President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, narrated to Bola Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State, how he watched his brother die.

Chiejina said it was unfair for newspapers to report the sack and neglect of the company’s truck driver who got badly injured in the line of duty at a time they were mourning.

READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Massive Gully Threatens Villagers’ Lives in Kano

“I told Ja’afar (the journalist that broke the news); I said it is very unfair. We’re still mourning. We lost our Vice President. Everybody is in a mourning mood,” he told FIJ. “Aliko’s younger brother died. Don’t you know?” 

‘THESE DRIVERS ARE FUNNY PEOPLE’

He also said truck drivers working for the company cannot always be trusted, berating journalists who listened to the narrative of the injured driver but failed to react to the issue.

“Let me give just one example. One guy from Punch said one of our drivers was missing; he brought the picture of the driver and the grandmother weeping. I told him to just hold on and said these drivers are very funny people,” he told FIJ. “Some of them sell our trucks and disappear. Not only trucks, but they also sell our goods. So when they start running after them, they say all sorts of things.”