Retired Police Officers, on Monday, took to the streets of Abuja to protest the abysmal pension entitlements paid to its members after over three decades of law enforcement duties to the nation.
The retired officers, who took their protest to the Louis Edet House, Force Headquarters, and National Assembly Gate in Abuja, ventilated their grievances to the Police authorities and leadership of federal lawmakers.
The protesting officers also demanded the removal of Police Pension from the contributory pension scheme.
The police pensioners, who chanted solidarity songs, also carried placards with varied inscriptions, including “Scrap Police Contributory Pension Scheme” and “We Need Our Full Gratuity”.
The elderly pensioners, who defied the early morning drizzle in Abuja, stood under it lamenting that their welfare and dignity had been neglected for too long.
Speaking during the protest, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Manir Lawal, called on the government to exit police retirees from the pension scheme.
He described the contributory pension scheme as exploitative and unjust.
“We are here to ask the government to remove us from the CPS. The pension scheme is exploitative and unjust. I am 67 years old. Many of us here are in our 60s and 70s. We have served this country faithfully and deserve to retire in dignity. This scheme has impoverished us. It is our right to demand better welfare after retirement,” he stated.
Human rights activist and convener of the #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, joined the retirees in calling for urgent intervention from the Federal Government.
Addressing the crowd of protesters, Sowore called on the government to immediately recognise the sacrifices of Nigerian police officers and ensure their rights and entitlements are upheld.
Police operatives monitored the protest to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
Earlier, in a statement, the Police Service Commission (PSC) said the reason for the protest was already receiving the attention of relevant government agencies.
The statement, signed by the Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, said, “The Commission says the intended protest, at a time when there is almost a consensus that the state/condition of some retired Police Officers deserves immediate consideration and improvement, is diversionary and in bad taste.”
Ani said that the Chairman of the Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu (rtd), had at several fora condemned the poor and discriminatory pension scheme for some categories of retired Officers and had called for a streamlined Police pension scheme.
Linus Aleke
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