The National Industrial Court of Nigeria, on Monday, ordered immediate reinstatement of 110 disengaged staff of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. The appointments of the affected staff were terminated in 1996.

The order was given in a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu in Abuja, in a suit filed by the disengaged staff against the university. The court ruled that “the purported termination was illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.” The judge ordered that the claimants be reinstated as bona fide staff of the university.

The order also mandated the university to pay the claimants all outstanding salaries and allowances from the date of disengagement till the date of judgment. The court held that the university should comply with all the recommendations of the 2004 and 2010 presidential visitation panel on the university and undertake such recommendations as binding.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 110 disengaged university staff had instituted a suit of illegal termination of appointment against the university in 2013. The claimants joined the Minister of Education, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice in the suit. Counsel to the claimants, Mr Femi Adedeji, had argued that his clients were not given fair hearing before their appointments were terminated, adding that the action was carried out during the military era.

He further held that the claimants who were academic and non-academic staff of the university had served for over 20 years without blemish before the unlawful termination. (NAN)