Twenty-four hours after he announced the mass sack of staff and suspension of operations of Air Nigeria, businessman Jimoh Ibrahim has started reaping the backlash.

This afternoon, Air Nigeria staff fought back, accusing him of sundry unethical practices and vowing not to go away without a fight.

The aggrieved staff in a statement issued in Lagos and signed by Wale Adeniran alleged that they are being owed four months’ salaries and that Ibrahim’s decision to shut down the beleaguered airline was unilateral.

They also leveled weighty allegations against the controversial businessman, accusing him of owing the Air Nigeria Cooperative Society N56 million; of not remitting pensions deducted monthly from staff salaries to the Pension Fund Administrators; and of failing to remit taxes deducted from their salaries to the relevant authorities.

The workers further lamented that “no plans (have been) put in place for all our passengers who have bought tickets to London who will be flying into and out of London from 10th September onward. He wickedly wants to get them stranded without alternative plans or refunds.”

The aggrieved staff declared that Barrister Ibrahim cannot sack them through a newspaper statement as opposed to the content of their employment letters.

Vowing to resist the illegality, they announced that they are embarking on a peaceful protest in Lagos from 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, to start from MM2 and terminate at the office of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

News Express recalls that NCAA had on June 21 suspended Air Nigeria’s local flight operations for the second time in two weeks, citing financial distress capable of jeopardising safety.

Unable to get the suspension lifted, Ibrahim yesterday announced the closure of the airline, basing the decision on alleged staff disloyalty and a hostile business environment. The Air Nigeria chairman said he had retained 50 loyal staff to resume operations in a year’s time.

*Photo: Jimoh Ibrahim.

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