Over 1,000 ex-Airways workers get severance benefits

Over 1,000 ex-workers’ of Nigeria Airways out of the 5, 968 could start receiving their severance benefits as early as tomorrow according to top official of verification team for the exercise, Mr. Lookman Animashaun.

The verification exercise which started on Monday entered its second day on Tuesday as the Presidential Initial on Continuous Audit (PICA) have until next week Monday to complete the exercise.

The tedious exercise which brought many senior citizens to the expansive premises of the Skypower Aviation Catering, a subsidiary of the defunct Nigeria Airways led to the death of a man who was brought to the verification centre in an ambulance from an undisclosed hospital.

The deceased passed away shortly as he was not able to undergone verification before he passed on and was hurriedly taken in the same ambulance to possibly the mortuary.

At the place were very elderly men, women very sick men and women. Some of them were wheeled to the place while others came in crutches. Their situations were not helped as the whole exercise was rowdy with many of them proceeding from the first point of checking their names.

After that they were asked to proceed to the second stage which was to get a long form where they were asked to fill their bio data and other information required of them.

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The third stage is data capture area where their entitlements are slept out and computed for final payment.

Animashaun said over  5,968 ex workers are expected to be paid, adding that the exercise closes October 22, 2018.

He said 1, 000 ex workers turn up each day for verification exercise, adding that the situation is fraught with logistic problem but quickly added that the situation was progressing very well.

He disclosed that the government had concluded plans to pay them 50 per cent of the entire entitlement, stressing that the other 50 per cent would be paid in the next six months.

It would be recalled that many former personnel of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL) have lost their lives while waiting for their pension and severance package to be paid by the federal government.

More than 15 years after the liquidation of Nigeria Airways Limited, President Muhammadu Buhari last month approved the immediate release of N22.68 billion for settlement of the retirement benefits of ex-workers of the defunct airline.