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.