Dangote Cement Plc said on Thursday that it was still working, in collaboration with its insurance firm, on the compensation for victims of the January 23 truck accident in Akungba-Akoko in Ondo State.

The spokesman for the Dangote Group, Mr Anthony Chiejina, was quoted in a statement as saying that the initial sum of N500,000 already paid to each family of the eight students killed in the accident was just to offset burial and incidental expenses their families incurred.

He said the company acted with dispatch to disburse the money to defray the burial expenses, as the bereaved families could not have been waiting for insurance compensations before burying their loved ones.

Chiejina, who described the incident as highly regrettable, said the company and the insurance firm had begun the documentation of all victims, including those who lost their properties, for the purpose of compensating them.

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He said, “The N500,000 paid to the families of the deceased was meant for the burial and incidental expenses.

“The Dangote insurers are currently meeting with all stakeholders for settlement of all medical expenses incurred as a result of the accident, payment of disability benefits, compensation for damaged properties and payment of death benefits to families of the deceased.”

Chiejina said the management of Dangote Cement was saddened by the development, adding that beyond compensation, the company would also give the victims’ families other benefits as agreed with stakeholders.

The company recalled that the President of the Student Union Government, Mr Oluwasegun Obagunwa, had in a statement he issued earlier confirmed the payment of N500,000 by Dangote Cement Plc as burial expenses.