Seven ex-members of staff of the now defunct Nigerian Airways died within the last week while awaiting their severance package from the Federal Government.
This was revealed by the Chairman, Elders Forum of the defunct Nigeria Airways, Mr. Godwin Jibodu, who said the pensioners died in abject poverty despite having served the nation well.
According to Jibodu, the deceased people were; Capt. Asuquo, Capt. Akintaju, Capt. Tunde Akinyosade, Capt. Sam Ohioma, and Mr. K. C. Amah while Mr. T. Bellgam and Mr. Ebenezer Akinbode were down with stroke.
In addition to that, another of the ex-workers, Capt. Charles Ntanyi, has been missing since August after boarding a commercial bus at night in the Ogba area of Lagos.
The Federal Government had earlier this year approved N45bn for the payment of gratuities and other retirement benefits of former employees of defunct airline, out of N78bn owed the workers.
Jibodu while expressing profound regret over the matter said, “we have lost seven colleagues within the last one week because they could not afford proper treatment for their ailments. This is very sad because the government has approved N45bn since June for the payment of our pensions and gratuities. We are appealing to Nigeria as a nation not to forget the contributions of the (defunct) Nigeria Airways to national development. Nigeria Airways till date has helped in building the capacity of workers in the aviation sector.”