The Skyway Aviation Handling Company has sacked a member of its staff, (name withheld), who was accused of passenger extortion and harassment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The PUNCH gathered that the sacked staff member, together with some other airport workers, allegedly extorted N100,000 from a traveller to South Africa last month.

He was sacked after an investigative panel set up by the ground handling company in Nigeria found him guilty of the allegation.

The probe started after a passenger, Oyewale Oyesiji, an automobile engineer and a first-time traveller, had last December, claimed he was extorted by some workers at the Lagos airport on his way to South Africa.

A source in the ground handling company who appealed to remain anonymous because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told our correspondent on Monday that, following this allegation, they set up a panel of inquiry that indicted the suspect before he was shown the way out.

The PUNCH gathered that the handling company was also planning to meet with the extorted passenger to update him on the development.

The source added that SAHCO would not tolerate any unprofessional conduct from its staff, irrespective of position.

The source said, “I can tell you categorically that our management has sacked the erring staff. Immediately we got wind of the allegation, the management set up a panel to investigate the matter. The panel found him guilty of the allegation levelled against him and submitted its report to the management.

“The management, in accordance with the Nigeria labour laws, also implemented the report of the investigative panel by dismissing the culprit immediately.”

When contacted, the Head of Corporate Communications, Mrs Vanessa Uansohia, refused to comment on the development but insisted that SAHCO does not tolerate corrupt practices among its staff.

Uansohia, however, assured all stakeholders and its clients of utmost commitment to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in its dealings.

She said, “We condemn any act of extortion, harassment, unethical behaviour or misconduct among our staff or operations. The reported incident is contrary to our values and the code of conduct that governs all our staff.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of corruption or misconduct, and this case is being thoroughly investigated.”