ALLEGED AVIATION SCHOLARSHIP SCAM: SECOND SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE SUES DR ERUANI AZIBAPU AND AZIKEL GROUP FOR 1.9 BILLION NAIRA

Yebei Amabebe, the second successful candidate of the proposed fully funded aviation training sponsored by the Bayelsa State business mogul and politician, Dr Eruani Azibapu, has formally filed a lawsuit at the Bayelsa State High Court against Dr. Eruani Azibapu and the Azikel Group.

The lawsuit, which seeks 1.9 billion naira in damages, marks a significant escalation of the ongoing crises rocking the proposed training, following allegations and counter allegations that the training was a mere make belief with no real intentions of seeing it through by the sponsors.

It will be recalled that in 2024, the Azikel Group owned by Dr Eruani Azibapu publicly pledged a multi-billion naira scholarship to train the brightest minds in Bayelsa state as commercial pilots up to airline transport pilot licence, and aircraft engineers in the United States.

Following a rigorous selection process, Mr. Amabebe and his colleague Kariyai Daukoru were the only two candidates to pass the screening examination. However, what was promised as a gateway to an international career was transformed into a sixteen-month period of forced, under compensated labor within the Azikel hangar.

Mr. Amabebe’s lawsuit alleges a flagrant breach of contract, asserting that the Azikel Group used the promise of elite education as a public relations stunt to recruit cheap labour and political image building, while never possessing the required legal accreditation, financial muscle, nor political will, to conduct such training.
The litigation comes at a time when the Azikel Group faces growing scrutiny over its handling of the scholarship program.

Despite the public declarations of partnership with international entities, investigations have since revealed a lack of formal agreements with the organizations cited in the original scholarship advertisement.

Mr. Amabebe’s action at the Bayelsa State High Court underscores a collective resolve to ensure that the intellectual labour of Bayelsa’s youth is not exploited for corporate and personal image-building, and that the original promises made to the state are held to the standard of legal accountability.

The court documents sighted by our correspondent in the suit which is marked as Suit No. BYHC/YHC/CV/386/2026, Mr Amabebe is praying the court for specific performance of the contract, among other reliefs.

Mr Amabebe allege that contrary to claims by Dr Erauni and Azikel Group, that it was in partnership with relevant authority and stakeholders, including Emirates Air, United States of America Embassy, among others, Dr Eruani never truly had the intention of training them as checks with the supposed partners revealed that Dr Eruani was never in any partnership with the stakeholders. Mr Amabebe describe the whole training program as a scam, designed to launder the image of Dr Erauni.

The litigation follows an extensive, failed scholarship program that claimed to offer international pilot training for Bayelsa youth. The claimant allege that the promise was fraudulent, leading to the exploitation of participants as uncompensated labourers.

The two-trainee staff had earlier petitioned the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, alleging systematic betrayal, and prolonged neglect by Azikel Group. However, the Azikel Group through its lead communication officer, Austin Ebipade countered that the trainees were not abandoned, but were undergoing in-house, salary-paid probation in a conducive environment.
Mr Kariyai, who had since sued Dr Eruani in Suit No. BYHC/YHC/CV/46/2026 is currently being remanded at Kuje prison in Abuja following a petition by Dr Eruani over allegation of cyberbullying and cyberstalking.

“Our client is well aware of the antics of Dr Eruani in trying to silence them, using state machinery and apparatus at his disposal, and our client is resolved in seeking justice and seeing that the almost two years of his life which has been wasted in relying on a promise that was built on make belief is compensated for.

“Mr Amabebe remains steadfast in his pursuit of justice through the Nigerian judicial system, seeking a resolution that addresses the breach of contract and the severe professional and personal damages suffered during the tenure of the progam.” Said Ferdinand Nta, one of the counsel to Mr Amabebe.