Chairman, Aviation Union Grand Alliance, Comrade Luqmon Animashaun, who confirmed the payment to SaharaReporters, said: “I can authoritatively tell you that some of our members have started getting alerts on their phones".
Four days after the conclusion of the verification and data capturing exercises, former workers of the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways, have begun to receive payment alerts from the Ministry of Finance.
As at Tuesday, some of them confirmed receipt of 50 per cent of their pension and gratuities, as promised by the government through their bank accounts.
The ex-workers had waited for 10 years, having being paid five years' benefit in November 2008 by late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
The airline was liquidated on September 30, 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who had said that as the Military Head of State in 1979, he left about 30 aircraft in the fleet of the airline, only to return in 1999 to meet “just two aircraft managing to fly".
Within the period of liquidation, about 845 of the supposed beneficiaries had died, while about 20 per cent of them are battling with several health challenges.
The first 1,000 cleared and forwarded to the concerned authorities for payment have confirmed receipt of 50 per cent of the part payment of the severance benefits.
Chairman, Aviation Union Grand Alliance, Comrade Luqmon Animashaun who confirmed the payment to SaharaReporters, said: “I can authoritatively tell you that some of our members have started getting alerts on their phones".
It was gathered that the 1,000 whose names were sent to the ministry would receive their payment alerts first, while others would be received thereafter.
About 5,900 ex-workers were captured in the exercise that took place in Lagos, Enugu and Kano for two weeks.