Nigerian Embassy in Washington explains sack of workers

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The Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC, has said that the recent disengagement of some workers at the embassy followed due process.

Senior officials at the embassy told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the benefits of the 15 local workers, who were recently laid off, would be paid soon.

They said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, approved the disengagement of the workers due to some ongoing rationalisation of workers at the embassy.

The officials, however, said the ministry had also approved the payment of gratuities to the workers, some of whom had worked with the embassy for more than 30 years.

Some of the affected workers had alleged that the decision to lay them off was arbitrary.

They also alleged that the embassy had no plans to pay their gratuity and other severance benefits.

Further, the local staff, who were mostly Nigerians, had accused the Mission of retaining the non-Nigerian employees at the expense of those who are of Nigerian nationality.

However, the embassy officials denied that there was no prior notice to the disengaged workers, saying they actually agreed to the arrangement since February 2017.

They also assured the workers that the processes for the payment of their entitlements had reached an advanced stage.

One of the officials said: “In February 2017, there was a decision to disengage some of the local staff.

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