Sunday Akintunde, former assistant general manager of NICON Insurance Company Limited, has filed a N492 million suit against the company over allegations of unpaid salaries and other entitlements.

Mr Akintunde in an amended suit marked NICN/ABJ/264/2023 filed at the National Industrial Court, Abuja, prayed the court to declare that his former employer was in breach of the employment contract terms with him.

The former staff, who said he had discharged his duties effectively and consistently from his employment till his disengagement on July 13, 2022, averred that his employment termination was unlawful and without any justifiable basis.

While Mr Akintunde is the claimant, NICON is the sole defendant in the suit filed by his lawyer, Noah Ajare.

Mr Akintunde, in a statement of claim, alleged that the insurance company did not pay his six-month backlog of salaries before the unlawful termination of his employment.

He also said the firm was still holding, among other things, his terminal benefit, the unremitted pension deducted from his salary for several months, and the mandatory employer contribution to his Pension Fund Account (PFA) for over four years he worked with them.

The claimant said though he did not deny his obligation to pay back the N3,099,401.88 net debt owed his former employer, which NICON paid on his behalf while he was in its service, he said the organisation should do a proper accounting of his entitlements and make provisions for all the financial benefits due to him.

He said he was ready to schedule the payment of the net balance, if any, because he neither usurped anyone’s right nor took over another person’s property.

Mr Akintunde alleged that as soon as his employment was terminated, he was asked to return the N3,099,401.88 or return his KIA Optima vehicle, which NICON accused him of fraudulently absconding with.

“Not long after that, he received a memo from the admin officer and later from the ED finance and admin that he should surrender the vehicle documents because it has become NICON Insurance Company’s property,” court documents said.

The claimant, who averred that the vehicle particulars and change of ownership documents indicated that he was the true owner, insisted he had been using the KIA Optima car before joining the company.

Mr Akintunde alleged that the company had resorted to using the police to threaten and harass him through continuous invitations. He, therefore, sought an order directing the insurance firm to pay him N200 million, “being special damages for character assassination, thereby hurting the claimant’s status as a preacher, a church leader and a man of principle holding responsible positions in the corporate settings and the society.”

He also sought an order directing the company to pay him N200 million in damages for alleged wrongful termination of employment and falsely accusing him “of stealing and converting the defendant’s car as his personal car,” among other reliefs amounting to N492 million.

The suit, assigned to Justice RB Haastrup, was fixed for December 18 for a hearing.

(NAN)