By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Security guards on duty on Tuesday prevented the founder and chairman of Arik Air, Mr Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, from entering the airline’s premises in Lagos.
The Chief Security Officer of Arik Air, identified as D Tom-West, said his team was acting on an order from above, as he was not answerable to Mr Arumemi-Ikhide but only to the receiver manager.
“The receiver manager gave an instruction not to allow you in. I am not aware of the court order. We cannot give you access to get into the compound. This is the instruction from above.
I’m very sorry that I’m keeping you people under the sun. We have the directive to deny you access. I’m obliged to respect the directive from the receiver manager,” he was quoted as saying by Daily Trust.
Mr Arumemi-Ikhide got into trouble after his company was taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2017 over debts.
The agency of the federal government, established to take over troubled organisations in the country, appointed a receiver manager, Kamilu Omokhide, for the airline.
But in December 2021, Mr Arumemi Ikhide and his wife, Mrs Mary Arumemi Ikhide, filed an originating motion, asking the court to compel him and others access to their offices at the airline’s premises.
The court granted this request, noting that the receivership of Arik Air does not preclude restricting access to the premises.
Armed with this, the Arik Air founder was at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos office of the company but was stopped.
He later went to the MMA Domestic Airport Division of the Nigeria Police Force to lodge a complaint, promising to report back to his lawyers, who would take up the matter from there.
Aduragbemi Omiyale