Sacked employees take BUA Group to court over unpaid benefits

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Sacked employees take BUA Group to court over unpaid benefits

Disengaged employees of Nigerian conglomerate, BUA Group, yesterday filed a case against the company at a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos over their unpaid benefits following the sale of its subsidiary to Olam’s Group of Companies.

The aggrieved workers besieged the court yesterday demanding that their entitlements be paid after serving to the company for many years.

Coordinator of the workers, Mr. Akasan Sylvester, told The Guardian that their entitlements had not been paid in full, as they were paid ‘peanut’ and la!d off their job after the management handed over the company to the new owners.


He said: “We were deceived while we were still working under the BUA administration. We heard that the company had been sold to Olam Group of Companies, though the management told us that the company changed its name to Quintessential Foods Nigeria Limited. They transferred our services to the newly named company and we later realized that we were no longer working under the newly named company.
“The new owners took over the company with their staff and then la!d us off saying they no longer require our services, so it dawned on us that BUA group actually sold the company without paying us our full entitlements. This is why we decided to seek the help of the court.”

Counsel to the sacked workers, Tegah Ojo, told newsmen that the two parties would meet this week to work things out and ensure that her clients get justice.

“Before the week runs out, we are going to arrange a meeting with the lawyer of BUA Group. We are going to work out things to ensure that the money is paid, so that we can settle the matter out of court,” she said.

The presiding judge, Justice Dele Peters, ordered that the case be settled between the two parties. The case was adjourned till November 23, 2016.