Seventeen years have passed since the liquidation of NICON Airways, formerly EAS Airlines.
Despite a court judgment, the former staff of the airline are still waiting to receive their outstanding salaries and allowances of approximately N850 million.
The staff, numbering around 300, have appealed to Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim, the former chairman of the airline, to settle their outstanding payments.
In a document obtained, Sen. Ibrahim was accused of disregarding the rule of law and the debts owed to the former staff.
The document, signed by Henry Iwelunmo on behalf of the former staff, stated that the airline was acquired from Capt. Idris Wada as EAS Airlines and was later renamed NICON Airways by Ibrahim and operated for over a year before it was grounded due to a lack of maintenance for its two Boeing 737 aircraft.
The former staff alleged that the airline’s management, led by Ibrahim, failed to address minor and major faults, leading to the airline’s closure without notice or communication to the staff.
According to them, they were left to speculate about the airline’s status, prompting them to approach the court.
It would be recalled that, the staff took the airline to the National Industrial Court in Ikoyi on November 30, 2011, seeking payment of their accrued salaries and allowances and after two years of court proceedings, the court gave judgment in favor of the former workers on September 16, 2013.
However, Ibrahim appealed the judgment and lost on May 23, 2017 and he then appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja judicial division, and lost again in February 2021.
The document stated that the former staff have been waiting for over 15 years to receive their legitimate and hard-earned money, including salaries and allowances.
Many of their colleagues have lost their lives to avoidable deaths while many are currently facing serious health challenges.
In the document, they called on Sen. Ibrahim to settle the outstanding payments without further delay, citing the harsh economic realities in Nigeria and the need to avoid further suffering and deprivations.
As at the time of writing this report, Sen. Ibrahim could not be reached for comment, and his mobile line not available.
The 21-page court judgment ordered the management to pay outstanding arrears of leave allowances, crew allowances, overseas unpaid allowances, and cumulative unremitted cooperative contributions to the staff between May 2007 and April 2011.
The judgment also ordered the payment of N16.4 million as pension funds, N8.1 million as cumulative contributions to the Nigeria Social and Insurance Trust Fund, and N808.7 million as the aggregate arrears of the workers’ salaries for the period.
The former staff described the non-adherence to the court judgment as callousness and lack of sympathy for the staff, who labored for the airline while it existed.
