Former employees of NICON Airways which stopped operations in May, 2007 have appealed to Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who was the ‘defacto owner’ and chairman of the airline, to pay their accrued salaries and allowances following various court rulings in their favour.
The staff, in a statement, urged Ibrahim to obey court order and pay without further delay as many of their colleagues had died with their families and dependants suffering untold hardship.
They noted that the airline’s management brought flight operations to an abrupt end, without the knowledge of staff let alone paying their legitimate accrued salaries and other benefits until they took the matter to the Federal High Court, Ikoyi in 2008 to compel the management to pay their entitlements.
“We were directed to National Industrial Court, Abuja. With that began our relentless efforts to claim our rights in suit No: NCN/LA/192/2011.
“After two years, precisely 16 September, 2013, judgement was given in favour of ex-NICON staff. The defendant appealed this judgement at the same court and lost again on 23 May, 2017 in suit No:NICN/ABJ/280/m/2014.
“Not satisfied again with the judgement, the debtor approached Court of Appeal, Abuja Judicial Division on two occasions and lost on 16 February, 2021, and the most recent one on 15 May 2023, respectively.
“Till date, the respondent has not deemed it fit enough to pay us our legitimate and hard-earned money, over-due entitlements and allowances in the form of salaries, pegged by National Industrial Court from May 2007 to April, 2011.
In the face of harsh economic realties in Nigeria today, more suffering and deprivation have been unleashed on ex-NICON Airways staff, and to avoid further deaths, urgent steps are needed to avert disastrous consequences looming right now,” they said in a statement.
They also appealed to public-spirited Nigerians and civil society organisations to come to their rescue.
