Faith Ezekiel, a former staff of the Omotosho Electric Energy Holding Company Limited, Ore, Ondo State, a company owned by billionaire businessman, Chief Davi, father of singer, David Adeleke, otherwise known as Davido, has alleged that she was illegally sacked, maltreated, abducted and abandoned in an uncompleted building in Ede, Osun State by the chairman of the company.
Ezekiel claimed that she wasn’t given a query or warning before she was unlawfully issued a termination letter. Stating further, she revealed that Adeleke was her benefactor. He had awarded her a scholarship that took care of her education from secondary school to tertiary level.
She claimed that while waiting to proceed on national youth service, Adeleke invited her to join his company. She also pointed accusing fingers at the Managing Director of the company, Tokunbo Omidina and the Human Resource Manager, Bamiji Olapade who, she added, were acting on Adeleke’s directive.
Ezekiel alleged that both men informed her that Adeleke instructed them to abduct her. The Human Resource manager sent the sum of N25, 000 to her account and instructed her to go to Ogun State. When she got there, Omidina, called her again and asked her to head to Osun State as the person to receive her would be waiting for her.
When she got to Osun, two men later came to meet her and took her to an abandoned building under the guise of taking her to Adeleke University, Ede. She was left in the building without food for seven days and was told that she would not be released unless Omidina instructed them to release her.
She revealed that had enjoyed a robust relationship with Adeleke for years, but couldn’t understand why she was maltreated by his workers. She did all she could to get across to her benefactor, but all phone calls and messages she sent to his phone were not responded to.
Ezekiel added that she rejected the termination letter because she couldn’t reach Adeleke. Speaking on the development, Chief Adeleke denied inflicting pain on Ezekiel. He said that he never ordered her abduction.
Admitting that he was, indeed, Ezekiel’s benefactor, Adeleke said he had decided to help her after a Seventh Day Adventist Church pastor introduced her as an orphan who needed help. Being a member of the church himself, he asked the pastor to enroll her at Babcock Secondary School after which he sponsored her to Babcock University and decided to help her further by offering her the job at his power plant. However, she was found guilty of professional misconduct, which eventually led to her being sacked from the company.
The industrialist alleged that while Ezekiel was in school, she was once suspended and later banned from the school dormitory because of her unruly behavior. She had to live with different people till she finished school. She continued with her recalcitrant attitude even when she started work. She would fight her colleagues and bosses at work and even stay back at home without reporting to duty, yet she was being a salary every month.
Omidina felt Ezekiel had a serious mental health challenge, which posed a risk to the multi billion naira investment and the workers as well. According to him, that was why he recommended that she should be sacked from the company. He had to approve her termination letter as the chairman of the company after going through her file. But she was paid three months’ salaries upfront after she was sacked from the company.
The company through its Managing Director, Omidina, also exonerated the Chairman of the company, Adeleke, from Ezekiel’s case. He stated that the chairman was not involved in the day-to-day running of the power plant as competent hands had been employed. It was also stated that Ezekiel was not abducted as she claimed. The matter is already in court.
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