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The families also revealed that Craneburg issued them a form printed on plain A4 paper, without a company letterhead or proper documentation.
The families of two deceased workers who died after a fence collapsed at Kwara Hotel in Ilorin have accused Craneburg Construction Company of handling the compensation package in a humiliating and unprofessional manner.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, a family source said the company failed to honour the deceased by summoning relatives to a public restaurant—Kilimanjaro, located near the Post Office in Ilorin—where they were handed a compensation of N2.1 million.
According to the source, the meeting was not held at the company’s office and no formal invitation was issued.
“They humiliated us,” the source said. “They sent someone, a short, chubby man they called the site supervisor, to deliver the money at a restaurant. There was no official letter and no honour given to our dead brothers.”
The families also revealed that Craneburg issued them a form printed on plain A4 paper, without a company letterhead or proper documentation.
“We initially refused to fill the form because it had no official identification. It looked suspicious and disrespectful,” a relative told SaharaReporters.
One family source expressed deep disappointment over the compensation process, noting that the company failed to acknowledge the workers’ death as a consequence of negligence.
“From day one, I tried my best to make sure that such a small amount was not accepted. Our brothers died on duty. Craneburg didn’t honour them in death.”
The families are reportedly divided over how to proceed. While some elders suggested accepting the money and moving on, others have insisted that legal action should be taken against the company.
“When incidents like this happen, the whole family must weigh in. Some of us were already consulting lawyers to take Craneburg to court, but the elders said it was ‘God’s will.’ We disagreed — it was the company’s negligence,” one relative said.
Another family, that of Friday Godwin, one of the deceased, has also expressed intent to pursue legal action against Craneburg, blaming the company for sending their loved one to an early grave.
“We are still in pain. The way they treated us, calling us to a restaurant with cash and unsigned forms, was deeply disrespectful. No worker should be treated like this after death,” the family source said.
SaharaReporters, previously reported that Craneburg Construction Company has come under fire after allegedly offering a meagre compensation package to the family of Abdulfatai Adebayo, an electrician who died while working at the Kwara Hotel renovation project in Ilorin, the state capital.
Craneburg Construction Company is owned by the late Chizoba Wigwe, wife of the late Herbert Wigwe.
Herbert Wigwe, the former CEO of Access Bank, established the company in 2016. While Herbert Wigwe played a role in the company’s development, it was officially founded and owned by his wife, Chizoba.
SaharaReporters previously reported that Adebayo met his untimely death when a fence at the site collapsed on him and some of his colleagues.
The incident reportedly occurred as he was laying electrical cables near a pit dug for drainage. The weakened fence suddenly gave way, crashing into the pit and trapping the workers.
Sources close to the family said Adebayo was the primary breadwinner and is survived by a pregnant wife — due to give birth soon —and four children.
However, Craneburg allegedly offered the grieving family just one bag of rice, five litres of red oil, a watermelon, and a pineapple as “compensation.”
The gesture has been condemned by the family members, who describe it as grossly inadequate and insulting. They are demanding a full investigation into the incident and appropriate compensation for the family.
“This is not just negligence, it’s an insult to the dignity of human life,” the source said. “The company must be held accountable for both the poor safety standards and their inhumane response.”
Speaking to SaharaReporters, some members of the deceased’s family expressed outrage over the company’s treatment.
They revealed that two representatives of Craneburg Construction Company visited them for a condolence visit, but failed to discuss any form of meaningful compensation.
“They came to visit the wife of the deceased but didn’t say anything about how our brother was killed or how they plan to compensate the family, even though the company have insurance covering all its workers,” a family member said.
“One of them, who we believe is the site supervisor, only said they have contacted people in the Government House and will try to get the deceased’s wife a job. But they never discussed how to compensate the family adequately. Instead, they’re more concerned about preventing us from speaking out about the incident.”
A family source also told SaharaReporters that the company recently contacted the widow, asking her to provide certain documents belonging to the deceased.
“They keep calling a pregnant widow for documents, while the family is demanding justice,” the source said.
“Till now, Craneburg Construction Company has not made any public statement about the incident. Even the Kwara State Government, which awarded them the Kwara Hotel renovation contract, has remained silent.”
The family insists that the negligence of Craneburg Construction Company, particularly its failure to address safety concerns raised earlier by workers about the weak fence, led to the tragic death.
“Our brother died because of Craneburg’s negligence and carelessness. There were complaints about that fence before. Yet nothing was done. Now he is gone,” one of the family members said.
The family is demanding a full investigation, public accountability, and adequate compensation for the loss of their breadwinner.
On June 13, 2025, SaharaReporters that workers of Craneburg Construction Company, the firm overseeing the reconstruction of the Kwara Hotel in Ilorin, staged a protest on Friday morning, demanding justice and proper burial arrangements for their late colleague, Friday Godwin, whose death marks the third fatality at the renovation site this week.
SaharaReporters learnt that two workers had died at the site earlier in the week.
The protesters gathered at the entrance of the Kwara Hotel, located in the heart of the state capital, to express their outrage and grief.
They insisted that Godwin’s remains be transported to his home state of Akwa Ibom for a proper burial and called on the company to provide adequate compensation to his bereaved family.
Godwin’s death was confirmed on Friday, following an earlier tragic incident on Tuesday in which two other workers — Ahmed Taiye Jimoh, a native of Ile Ilorin in the Opomalu area, and Abdulfatai Adebayo from Bare Gambari — lost their lives when a section of the hotel’s perimeter fence collapsed during ongoing renovation work.
The workers accused the company of negligence, alleging that it had poor safety measures and an inadequate response to previous fatalities.
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