A Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN), has accused Sahara Reporters online newspaper of treating its workers, especially Editorial Staff of what it calls “salary slavery.”
It alleged that the editorial staff currently receive “paltry sum of money per story published without employment letters.”
Rising from its meeting in Abuja yesterday, September 28, the group accused the owner of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, of living large while underpaying his workers, and that editorial staff of the online newspaper do not have any letter of employment regarding their conditions of service and entitlements.
A statement by its Coordinator, Dr Chima Ubeku, said that reporters who daily risk their lives to report stories for Sahara Reporters are paid peanuts while the owner, Sowore is paying over N200 million as school fees for one of his children per annum.
The statement said that Sowore pretends as if his house is order, and has been everywhere, agitating that policemen should not earn less than ₦500,000 per month.
“Meanwhile, his own editorial staff are not paid any salary.”
The group sad that Sowore, who claimed to be a human rights activist is contravening the Labour Act, 2004, which is the principal legislation governing employment relation in Nigeria.
It called on the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to intervene and save journalists working in Sahara Reporters from slavery they are being subjected to by Sowore.
