Some aggrieved former staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority who were retrenched in 1991 have decried the recent adjournment of hearing of their case from March 14, 2019 to March 4, 2020.
The former NPA workers lamented their plight saying many of their colleagues had suffered several losses with several others dead in the cause of the legal battle without receiving their retirement benefits.
Alleging that the Ports Authority masterminded the shift in the date of adjournment, the affected workers urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed, to intervene in the matter, stressing that the case had suffered a serious setback.
They alleged that although the Supreme Court had earlier delivered its judgement on the matter, but the NPA breached the court order and went back to a lower court.
One of the affected workers, who identified himself simply as Emmanuel, said, “Now we are still at the Appeal Court waiting for another judgement. We don’t know the plan of NPA.
“It is a shame that after working for a reputable organisation such as NPA, the management wants to deny us our rights to entitlement and benefits. Many of my colleagues are dead today without collecting a dime. Some are in hospitals. That’s why we are calling on President Buhari to intervene and order the management of NPA to pay our money.
“We also want to appeal to the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria to look into the unnecessary shift in dates which we have been experiencing since 1991when we dragged NPA to court. The management of NPA should be called to order; they should respect the judgement of the Supreme Court.
“It is a shame that NPA did not respect the judgement of the Supreme Court and that is a very bad signal to the judiciary.”
One of the counsels to the ex-workers, Barrister Honesty Eguridu, told The Point that the date was shifted because of tribunal cases pending in the Appeal Court. He said the Court of Appeal would finish the tribunal cases before attending to other cases.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 100 ex-staff of the NPA were said to have died since their retrenchment.
An NPA worker, Akin Olagbemi said, “This is exactly what some retrenched staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority suffered and are still suffering. After 28 years of retrenchment, a total of 301 ex- staff are still in court over their gratuity and pension.
“The most annoying thing is that even after the Supreme Court judgement was delivered in favour of the retrenched 301 ex-staff of NPA in 1991, setting aside the judgement of Court of Appeal, the ex- employees are back to square one as they started all over again from the High Court but now are again at the Court of Appeal.
“This is injustice. Justice delayed is justice denied. Many of the retrenched workers are dead today”.
Names of some of the embattled former staff of NPA who died during the protracted legal battle were David Oghozor, John Nwachukwu, Emeka Uwafili, John Umeh; Emmanuel Imoto, Samuel Boison, Ambrose Akweh, M.C Osakwe, E.k Kpaiye and D.O. Ochayi.
Also affected were E. Akiya, B.E. Akpan, N.E. Otuali, P.C. Nnaji, M.A. Ekeh, S.O Ntuk, I.K. Abariso, A.Asheri, S.O. Agbai, S.I Atafo, H.Kano, S.Neto, B.C Anukam, M.E Mbaka, E.G. Ayamse, E. Okocha, E.O Dike, O.Taylor, A. Lawanson, B.T Mustapher and
S. Osu Nkechi.
