• Nigerian Legion Disowns Protesters
• Pension Board Silent
In and out of service, succour appears far from some serving and retired soldiers and policemen, as their welfare, entitlements and supply of needed equipment and ammunition to do their jobs lingers.
Last week’s protest by ex-soldiers at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja and reported abandonment or desertion from duty, as well as resignations for sundry reasons, could be an indication that Nigeria might be quietly creeping back to its worst military pension administration, which culminated in a major crisis between 2000 and 2004 before it was sanitised by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
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Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
Retired soldiers on Wednesday, stormed the Ministry of Finance, Abuja, in protest over the non-payment of their pension arrears.
They also demanded the inclusion of officers who fought in the civil war in the military pension scheme.
He equally demanded the payment of the minimum wage arrears accruing to them since 2019.
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He said, “We veterans of the Nigerian armed forces are appealing to the President to graciously approve the payment of the minimum wage arrears of pension (20 months), which was approved since April 2019.
“The government should pay the retired officers and soldiers who are still alive security debarment allowances and not a selected few from November 2017 till date as was done by the Ministry of Defence.”