Bento has laid off its 10-person tech team after employees protested against the delayed payment of their January salaries. According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, the layoffs occurred on Friday, marking the latest development in a turbulent period for the company.
The abrupt dismissals come just a week after Bento was accused of failing to remit millions of naira in taxes and pensions, as well as allegedly forging tax receipts for Lagos State customers. The company’s founder, Ebun Okubanjo, resigned on January 30 following these allegations. Despite his resignation, he continued communicating with employees the following day, raising uncertainty about his role within the company.
Employees grew concerned when Okubanjo informed them on January 31 that their salaries would be “strategically delayed” until all pending payrolls for customers had been processed. Frustrated by the decision, the tech team collectively agreed to halt operations until they were paid.
“It’s January, and everyone is going through it financially,” an affected ex-employee wrote in a company chat. “Even amidst all the chaos, we’re still here working without knowing where the company is headed. The team has collectively agreed to halt all operations until we get paid.”
Okubanjo, however, justified the salary delay as a strategic measure, suggesting that some employees were likely to resign amid the controversies. When the employees refused to resume work, he treated their protest as voluntary resignations, deactivating their work emails and terminating their employment without pay.
He also made an offer to distribute the withheld salaries among any remaining employees willing to stay and continue processing payroll. “If we end up with two employees making 3 million each, that is it,” Okubanjo stated in internal chat messages. According to sources, no employee accepted this offer.
The layoffs have had an immediate impact on Bento’s operations, particularly in payroll processing. The company, which had previously automated salary disbursements, has been forced to manually process payments since 2024 due to issues with payment processors and underfunded accounts. “With all the engineers gone, there is almost no one to run payroll,” said an employee familiar with the matter.
In an email to customers, Bento claimed it intentionally paused transactions to facilitate the transfer of platform credentials from Okubanjo to an interim overseer. However, employees expressed doubts about the company’s ability to maintain operations following the mass layoffs.
As Bento navigates this crisis, its future remains uncertain, with major operational challenges looming in the wake of these layoffs.
