Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
Nigeria, April 29, 2016 – Media mogul, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim has laid off almost all workers in Newswatch Times, formerly Daily News watch as the newspaper begins online publication.
When our correspondent visited the head office of the newspaper at 159/161Broad Street, Marina Lagos, he was told that the billionaire has issued cheques in various sums to workers as final pay-off and has relocated editor of the newspaper to an office in a sister company, National Mirror.
A source confided in our correspondent that what staff got as pay-off was nothing but a fraction of their total pay. “We were seriously cheated. Jimoh Ibrahim first slashed salaries of all staff into half and thereafter paid only 40 percent of the half salary as final pay-off”, the source who also received cheque said.
Using himself as an example, he said his salary was N100,000 initially slashed to N50,000 which should amount to N200,000 for the four months he was owed.
He said that what he got was N40,000 for the four months at the rate of N10,000 per month, which he said is just about 35 to 40 percent of the half pay.
He said most of the staff were made to sign an undertaken that the amount remains final pay-off with threat that nothing would happen to him if he decides not to pay the affected workers what he owed.
“The editor of the newspaper that was entitled to about N3 million being accumulated salary got just N700,000, some people who earn about N80,000 monthly eventually got N200,000, as pay off for several months of unpaid salaries, some N250,000”, he continued.
He said those who earn about N100,000 monthly eventually got about N300,000 or less for the 13 months that management of the company was indebted to them.
He said only the online staff who process material for publication currently occupy the main building while all other staff have been laid off. We gathered it was lamentation galore as workers receive the cheques but were forced to accept it left with no other option.
“We don’t even know how, they calculated the pay. We were cheated but we have to accept it like that because there is nothing we can do”, another worker said, adding that Newswatch actually owed 13 months, scaled to 12 months and later 11 months followed by what he called the unreasonable slash and that Jimoh did it in consonant with management staff of the organization.
He alleged that Ibrahim stoop that low because he was broke and could have borrowed the money to offset the debt and that there are some who are yet to be paid.
