Bento laid off its 10-person tech staff on Friday after they protested founder Ebun Okubanjo’s resolution to delay January’s salaries, in keeping with three folks conversant in the matter.  The abrupt layoff got here one week after the corporate was accused of failing to remit tens of millions of naira in taxes and pensions and forging tax receipts for Lagos State prospects. Okubanjo resigned on January 30, regardless of denying the allegations and in an announcement purportedly despatched by buyers, the corporate claimed it was within the means of retrieving credentials from Okubanjo.

Nevertheless, at the very least two buyers informed TechCabal they didn’t see that letter. 

Regardless of Okubanjo’s obvious resignation, he continued speaking with Bento workers on January 31. It’s unclear if he addressed the problems with workers who turned nervous when he knowledgeable them their salaries can be “strategically delayed” till they processed all pending payroll for patrons. 

“It’s January, and everybody goes by means of it financially,” an affected ex-employee wrote in a Google Chat message reviewed by TechCabal. “Even amidst all of the chaos, we’re nonetheless right here working with out understanding the place the corporate is headed. The staff has collectively agreed to halt all operations till we receives a commission,” the identical worker wrote.

Okubanjo emphasised Bento’s historical past of immediate wage funds, even for short-term workers. He claimed the delay was a strategic measure anticipating resignations because of the ongoing controversies. When workers refused to get on with work, Okubanjo handled the protest as resignations, deactivating the staff’ work emails with out pay.

He claimed the staff had been trying to pressure his hand and provided to divide the withheld salaries amongst any workers prepared to remain and course of payroll. “If we find yourself with two workers making 3 million every, that’s it,” he said within the Google Chat messages.

Nobody took up his provide, three folks with information of the state of affairs mentioned. 

“I don’t work for Bento so I’m unable to reply on its behalf,” Okubanjo mentioned in an announcement to TechCabal. 

Bento’s now laid-off tech staff consists primarily of younger engineers within the early phases of their careers, most having been with the corporate for slightly over a 12 months. The final of the founding tech staff resigned in 2024, one individual claimed. 

Friday’s abrupt layoffs have stalled Bento’s operations, notably with payroll processing for its prospects. The corporate, which had beforehand automated wage disbursements, has needed to manually course of funds since 2024 because of points with fee processors and underfunded accounts. “With all of the engineers gone, there may be nearly nobody to run payroll,” mentioned one worker.

Nevertheless, in an e-mail to prospects, Bento claimed it deliberately halted transactions to facilitate a switch of platform credentials from Okubanjo to an interim overseer.

A Bento worker who requested to not be named for worry of reprisals mentioned he solely realized concerning the allegations about cast tax receipts on social media and was nervous concerning the influence on his profession. 

“I even took the corporate off my LinkedIn for some time,” mentioned the worker, who spoke anonymously for worry of reprisal. He claimed different workers shared his issues however had been additionally shocked when Okubanjo deactivated their work emails.