Sacked Workers of Abuja Film Village Appeal to FCT Minister for Reinstatement
A group of sacked workers of Abuja Film Village (AFV) has appealed to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike to revisit the termination of its members’ employment to ensure their reinstatement.
The group made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its Spokesperson, Mr Habila Kayit.
It stated that the AFV’s former management, under its then Managing Director, Dr Francisca Ibezim, had in September 2022 terminated the appointment of 27 members of staff of the organisation without a clear-cut reason.
“We call on the Honorable Minister of the FCT, Barr. Nyesom Wike to wade in by revisiting the matter to ensure we return to work.
“This call becomes necessary as the challenges of being jobless have been telling on us and our dependants.
“We demand the immediate reinstatement of the unlawful termination of our employment and appeal for the full payment of our salaries and arrears over the time of the unlawful disengagement.
“We wish to state explicitly that the outstanding salaries arrears paid to us before the termination can never be paid off the package as posited in some quarters,” the group’s spokesperson said.
He recalled that the sacked workers were invited on Sept. 30, 2022, for a staff meeting where they received the termination letter with one month’s salary in lieu of notice with no other benefit.
“However, no AFVI Staff was ever indicted for any form of misconduct whatsoever and at no point was anyone invited to face any disciplinary committee.
“We were employed on a full-time basis as staff of Abuja Film Village International with the directive letterhead of the Honorable Minister FCT.
“Some of us have been under the employment of the agency for over 15 years and have performed our duties diligently.
“Also, deductions and remittances in the form of taxes, health insurance, and housing scheme among others were collected from the source from inception till the day we received the unlawful termination letters.
“We have followed all administrative channels to seek reinstatement but all to no avail hence the resolve to cry out for help,” he said.
Abuja Film Village, created in 2008, is a subsidiary of Abuja Investment Company Ltd (AICL), envisioned to make Abuja a filmmaking and entertainment hub.
The film village was conceived to be developed as a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative with a mandate to build a world-class entertainment city for professional filmmakers and a destination for tourism.
Over 5,000 hectares of land were allocated for the project in Kusaki and Yanga Districts of Kuje Area Council for the actualisation of the Abuja Film Village project from inception.