By Olaitan Osola, Correspondent
A London based satellite television station, owned by publisher of Thisday newspapers, Nduka Obiagbena; Arise global news network has been shut down due to financial challenges.
The order for the closure came from the British High Court on the 14th of February, 2016 in respect to the petition filed by a British television company after settling a similar action brought by a British publisher last summer.
The Independent of London reports that the media organization is seriously indebted, owing members of its staff and other news agencies including Reuters and Association Press {AP}.
According to one of the regulatory bodies, Ofcom, Arise television station has been found breaching its license for failing to pay its annual license fee by the required date and owing members of it staff salary.
One of the staffers, David Lee who resigned as a production editor claimed that he is owed £ 20, 000 {Twenty thousand pounds}.
“ It’s disgusting, now I’m faced with a tax bill that I can’t pay. Two staff in the New York office have lost their houses because they were unable to make their monthly mortgage repayments,” he said.
A Palestine-based company, 4D Media , whose journalists provided Arise with coverage of last year’s deadly Gaza conflict, as well as reporting from Syria, Lebanon and Egypt revealed that out of $145,000 Arise only paid $24,000.
“ Why are Arise refusing to pay us for services provided by us, even ignoring our correspondence and phone calls?,” Kamal Alazraq, operation manager of4D Media wondered.
However, according to Obiagbena, who said all Arise workers are freelance, a wage scam has been uncovered in the company. “We are in dispute… with some who made invalid claims which we discovered during a routine audit.”
“ The courts may have to have to determine this. Some saw Arise as a gravy train to take advantage of. They are wrong,” he stated.
Obiagbena assured that the media house {Arise} would do everything to off-set it debt and settled the staffers salaries.
The station went off air late last year as a result of 62 of its workers filing a legal action for £825,000 unpaid wages.
