OBANDE FESTUS OGBUINYA, JCA (Delivering the Leading Judgment): This appeal queries the correctness of the decision of National Industrial Court of Nigeria, holden at Calabar (hereinafter addressed as “the lower court”), coram judice: E. N. Agbakoba, J., in Suit No. NICN/CA/127/2013, delivered on 29th April, 2016. Before the lower court, the appellants and the respondents were the defendants and the claimants respectively.
The facts of the case, which transformed into the appeal, are amenable to brevity and simplicity. Sometime in February, 2009, the appellants employed the respondents to work at the Akwa Ibom International Airport (AKIA) project in Akwa Ibom State upon certain terms and conditions. In the course of time, the respondents demanded to belong to a union or a representative body which could represent and express their views and interests. The respondents alleged that the appellants were not disposed to accede to the request. On 20th October, 2012, the appellants, acting …