Mike Oluwole, the former boss of an Abuja-based photographer, Nicholas Peter, has given reasons for his actions, amidst backlash, News About Nigeria reports.
Oluwole stated reasons for arresting and jailing the 26-year-old photographer while speaking to newsmen in an interview on Monday.
Nicholas’s story had sparked rage online after the founder of Hope Behind Bars Africa, Funke Adeoye, disclosed his predicament to the public.
Funke, who noted that part of her team’s mandate is providing free legal services to indigent awaiting trial inmates who cannot afford legal representation or innocent people behind bars, disclosed that Nicholas had been there for 10 months for ‘intentional insult’ and was there because he could not pay some money.
Narrating his own part of the story, Nicholas ex-boss claimed that his ex-staff’s alleged frivolous character, mismanagement, theft, and defamation were the justifications for his arrest.
According to him, Nicholas came to his office to sell a camera lens, which he later discovered to be stolen, adding that he put him on the spot to know about it even though he lied that it was for his friend who was bedridden and needed funds urgently.
He said that he had employed Nicholas after the latter showed his skills in photography and photo editing after a series of tests, adding that Nicholas resulted to insulting him after he sent him a text message asking if the way he resigned was the right way to go about things.
He said, “When he came to my office to sell the camera lens, I asked about its owner. He claimed that it belonged to his friend, and I put him on the spot to confirm. I made him sign that he sold it to me. I then told him how much I needed a good photographer and photo editor and he showed interest. I put him on a series of photography tests, which he passed outstandingly.
“I then employed him on probation for six months with a monthly pay of N70,000, and he consented. But I noticed something with Nicholas: he is always demanding. My company has a scheme called ‘I owe you (IOU)’ to help relieve staff members of their financial burdens until the end of the month when they get their salaries to repay. He was always defaulting in the scheme and would beg me to help him spread the pay beyond the next month.
“When he resigned, he only sent a text, and I asked him if that was the appropriate way to go about things. He then began to insult me, advising me on how to go about human management and leadership. I learned that our office phone was missing; I rang him to no avail after CCTV revealed that a day before his resignation, he had returned to the office, disconnected the office camera, and connected it while heading out. Unperturbed by his actions that are costing my customer database, I reported him to the police, and he was arrested.”
Nicholas was arrested and detained in the Keffi Correctional Centre.
