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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