A Dangote truck loaded with cement on Wednesday morning rammed into three vehicles at Ozalla Four Corner Junction along the Enugu–Port Harcourt Expressway, leaving several people feared dead and others critically injured.
Eyewitnesses said one of the vehicles, carrying a family, was completely crushed, with none of the occupants surviving.
Staff of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) were also reported among the casualties. Injured survivors from two commuter buses involved in the crash were taken to UNTH for treatment, while corpses of the dead were deposited at the hospital morgue.
The latest incident adds to a troubling record of fatal accidents linked to Dangote trucks across Nigeria. In April, a Dangote trailer collided with a Toyota Hiace bus on the Okene–Lokoja highway, killing 19 passengers.
Just weeks ago, another truck from the company struck Ruth Otabor, sister of Big Brother Naija winner Phyna, in Edo State, resulting in her death.
Public anger is mounting over the frequency of such crashes. Videos of Wednesday’s carnage have gone viral, sparking fresh calls for stricter regulation of heavy-duty trucks. Road safety advocates argue that poor maintenance, reckless driving, and weak enforcement of safety standards are fueling the tragedies.
“The government cannot continue to look away while families are wiped out on our roads,” one activist wrote on X (formerly Twitter), echoing demands for tighter monitoring of corporate fleets.
Transport experts are urging federal and state authorities to introduce immediate measures, including periodic fitness tests for heavy-duty vehicles, stricter licensing of truck drivers, and corporate liability for companies whose fleets repeatedly cause fatal accidents.
Until then, campaigners warn, Nigerian highways will remain death traps where preventable crashes claim dozens of lives each year.