Fifteen members of the Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria, Kwara State chapter, were said to have died within a month due to non-payment of their retirement stipends by the authorities.
The state chairman of the association and a retired chief superintendent of police, Mr. Yakubu Abdul, who led his colleagues in a peaceful protest march in Ilorin on Tuesday, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to look into their plight.
The retirees, who lamented that many of them were seriously ill, said that others could no longer meet their family obligations not to talk of paying their children school fees, as resumption of schools was fast approaching.
How will policemen who are currently in service not take bribe with things like this?
The protesters, who marched through major streets of Ilorin metropolis, also took their protest to the state House of Assembly, the state police command headquarters, Government House, Pension Commission office, Ilorin, and National Health Insurance Scheme office, among others, where they appealed to the appropriate authorities to look into their plights without further delay.
“It is disheartening to note that after serving the country meritoriously and retiring from service, our gratuities and pensions could not be paid while the authorities saddled to pay the dues have mismanaged the money,” the chairman lamented.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as, ‘We are dying, President Muhammadu Buhari, Help us,” “Our Pension is embezzled,” “Pension is for life,” “PMB should empower ICPC/EFCC to investigate pension officials,” “National Housing Fund is a fraud,” “After serving for 35 years meritoriously, our take home pay is N20,000,” among others.
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