Flour mills Nigeria Limited (FMNL) has sacked about 3,000 of its staff due to the current economic downturn, SHIPS & PORTS DAILY can authoritatively report.
The sack, which cuts across all the subsidiaries of the company, also affected the Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) – operator of Terminals ‘A’ and ‘B’ of the Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa, Lagos.
According to a reliable source, the downsizing was done to trim down the workforce and reduce the company’s overhead in the face of dwindling revenue occasioned by the drop in oil prices and depreciation of the naira.
“The sack was in phases and it cut across all the subsidiaries of Flour Mills Nigeria limited including ABTL.
“The sack was for the company to be able to balance its book and meet up with its expectation especially against the falling naira and fall in oil prices that have affected the economy.
“It was a process; not that the whole workers were sacked at once, it was in phases and at the end 3,000 workers were asked to go home,” a source in the organisation, who does not want her name in print because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY.
When contacted, the Managing Director of ABTL Capt. Muhammed Bashir confirmed the sack but said it was not only at ABTL but other subsidiaries of the company.
“It is not a big deal, every company does that,” he said.
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