General News
Unions Say Powerful, Fraudulent Cabal Manipulate Aero Contractors
The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), and the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) have sent out a distress cry to the management of the Assess Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), urging the company to rescue the airline from the brink of bankruptcy allegedly been manipulated by some powerful cabal in the management of the company.
The Unions, in an eight paged letter written by Olayinka Abioye, NUATE General Secretary of and Rotimi Kehinde, the ATSSSAN counterpart, implored AMCON to investigate its present representative alongside the board members of Aero.
The Unions in their letter alleged numerous fraudulent practices and embezzlement orchestrated by the management of Aero, the Board of Aero and AMCON representative calling for a forensic Audit to be carried out with the intervention of ICPC or the EFCC to look into how tax payers’ money invested in Aero has been embezzled by a few individuals.
According to the letter, the unions said that AMCON took over the loans of Aero from Eco bank at an undisclosed discounted rate, and made a decision to invest in Aero to turn the fortunes of the airline around, according to them, unfortunately there were a lot of middle men who just wanted to use Aero as a front to siphon tax payers money from AMCON.
The union alleged,” These people who were majorly AMCON senior management staff seconded to the board of Aero with Aero management devised various ways of siphoning money from AMCON in the name of Aero. Those management staff in Aero who did not cooperate with their plan were either sacked or advised to resign. Some of the ways they orchestrated to siphon tax payers monies out of AMCON in the name aero are listed below.”
“N266M (Two Hundred and Sixty Two Million Naira) was paid in the name Austen Peters & Co and the monies transferred to one Alpine Gates Company for alleged Negotiated settlements fee to AMCON as consultancy fee. On further investigation it was discovered that this money were just being siphoned from aero in the name of consultancy fees and passed back to a beneficiaries in AMCON.”
“$250.000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars) was paid twice in favour of Bayo – Negotiation &Finalization of restructuring with AMCON and was also reflected on our invoices as general vendor for consultancy fees. These monies were taken away by AMCON staff even while the company was undergoing serious cash crunch.”
“AMCON claims to have reinvested almost ten billion Naira in Aero since taking it over sometime in 2011 but this monies have always found their way back to the pockets of private individuals who go abroad to negotiate aircraft lease without any technical experience and even most times over bloated lease rates which being a burden on the company.”
“Over a million dollars was paid to Wall & Ace as legal fees to advice management on industrial dispute which should ordinarily have been settled by it human resource department. Most of these monies were paid in dollars as against the CBN act that prohibits indigenous transactions to be paid in dollars. “
“Recently 9 million dollars was transferred to a company, Embraer for the purchase of aircraft, only for the staff to be told after a few months that the deal has been called off by AMCON and the monies trapped with Embraer. We have no idea how such money could just be lost and yet all still count as Aero indebtedness to AMCON.”
“A lot of proxy companies were open to serve the sole purpose of milking the company dry. One of such firms is Skybourne Logistic created to take over all the employees of aero and manage them at a cost of extra 25%, but these was resisted by the unions which lead to the dismissal off all staff and closing down of the company in march 2013. But the senate and industrial court upturned the decision. “
“Skybourne Logistics was also collecting N980 (Nine Hundred and Eighty Naira) per boarding pass which should ordinarily cost less than N25 (Twenty Five Naira) a piece, this amounts to over 60 Million Naira monthly until the unions fought for the deal to be cancelled and it was reduced to N250 and after much pressure finally to N130 which it is today”
“Another Proxy contract was Greater Washington Logistics which was collecting 70 percent of our total cargo and ancillary revenue from excess and giving us 30 percent but after the unions exposed and fought for it to be reviewed, it was reversed we keep 70 percent while they keep 30 percent.”
“There is also a case where the Cross River State Government paid Four Million dollars to Aero in 2013 to service their Dash-8-200 which they purchased from the Rivers State Government to operate into Obudu Cattle Ranch. This money was shared between Aero management and AMCON representatives in Aero Board. Currently Aero is undertaking the repairs with money made from scheduled services, while those who shared this money walk free.”
The petitioners hence said there was an urgent need for a proper management team of technocrats and upright characters to take over the management of the company and look into all the injustices in the system.
Chinonso Akujobi, former staff of Access Bank in Lagos, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison after she was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N294.5m.
Akujobi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arraigned before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
EFCC alleged that Akujobi stole the money between January and December 2025 while under the employment of Access Bank Plc.
As stated in one the charges, the defendant stole the money through unauthorized payments from the general ledger of Access Bank to her account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendant pleaded “not guilty“ to the charges when they were read to her.
In view of this, S.M.Yabo, prosecution counsel, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional centre.
Justice Ijelu, thereafter, adjourned the case till October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.
The Judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi correctional Centre.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says the flight captain of the VMO Aero aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba Airport in Delta State told investigators that the observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the runway before touchdown.
The bureau disclosed this in a preliminary report released on Thursday on the June 10 incident, which prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet.
The aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers.
According to the report, the aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to approach Runway 11 at Asaba Airport after the crew requested a right orbit.
The crew initially discontinued the approach, executed a missed approach and repositioned for a second landing attempt.
NSIB said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach.
“The PIC and SIC reported that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway,” the report stated.
However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different version of events.
According to NSIB, he said the aircraft remained inside cloud until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.
He also said he observed a telecommunications mast directly ahead and instructed the flight captain to abandon the approach and climb immediately.
The bureau further disclosed that a cabin crew member reported that one of the passengers became concerned after overhearing discussions among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training. The passenger was reportedly reassured that all three pilots on board were experienced captains.
NSIB said no abnormal events were reported in the cabin before touchdown.
The aircraft eventually landed at about 8:57 a.m. on an under-construction paved roadway near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.
The bureau said its investigation into the incident is ongoing, while the preliminary report highlights conflicting accounts among the cockpit crew over the circumstances that led to the erroneous landing.
European Union has warned Meta Platforms Inc. that it could face a significant financial penalty unless it changes what regulators describe as the “addictive design” features of Facebook and Instagram.
The European Commission issued the warning in preliminary findings released on Friday, saying Meta had failed to sufficiently address risks posed by its platforms, particularly to children and vulnerable users.
The Commission said features such as infinite scrolling, personalised content recommendations and automatic video playback were designed in ways that encouraged excessive engagement with the platforms.
EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said protecting the physical and mental well-being of European citizens should be a priority for social media companies.
The Commission said Meta should consider introducing design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, providing effective screen-time reminders and adjusting recommendation systems to reduce the focus on maximising user engagement.
The findings were issued under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets obligations for major online platforms to address risks associated with their services.
Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions, saying it disagreed with the findings but would continue engaging with European regulators.
The company said it had already implemented measures aimed at protecting younger users, including Teen Accounts that allow parents to manage screen time limits and restrict access during night hours.
The EU said its investigation, which began in 2024, found that existing time-management tools on Facebook and Instagram could easily be bypassed, while parental controls required technical knowledge that limited their effectiveness.
Regulators also expressed concerns over children’s nighttime use of the platforms and the possibility that features such as Reels and Stories could encourage compulsive behaviour.
If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.
The warning comes as the EU steps up efforts to strengthen online safety measures for children, with an expert panel established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to present recommendations on protecting minors online.
Several EU member states, including France, have also supported discussions on restricting social media access for children, following Australia’s decision to ban users under 16 from accessing social media platforms.
Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing a separate investigation into whether Meta’s recommendation algorithms create “rabbit hole” effects by directing users towards increasingly extreme content.
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