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From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Palpable tension broke at the Center for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU), Osogbo, Osun State, on Monday, as an aged pensioner collapsed during the ongoing screening by the state government.
Save for the urgent arrival of the medics of the state ambulance service, the victim would have passed on.
The incident caused unrest for some time as only a few among the pensioners were agile enough to rise to the occasion and prevent unforeseen circumstances.
The pensioners who had thronged the venue of the screening at the hills of CBCIU early in the morning brought their food and drinks to meet up with the screening in anticipation of payment of their entitlements.
Some of the pensioners were assisted to the venue by either children, relatives, and grandchildren.
While some of them were standing, waiting for the screening exercise to commence, those who could not withstand it lay on the floor outside the venue of the screening.
One of the pensioners who identified himself as Samuel Aduroja, faulted the lack of proper arrangement for the aged ones by the handlers of the screening.
He noted that he did not oppose the screening but it should have been better arranged by either on zonal or local government for easy access of the people.
The consultant handling the screening exercise, Saadat Bakri-Ottun, was yet to arrive at the venue when the incident happened.
The state secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Dele Aina, told Daily Sun that he has not seen the affected pensioner.
The civil servants had accused the consultant of unfair treatment and reported to the State House of Assembly.
The legislators had earlier suspended the exercise and later lifted the suspension after a promise by the consultant to be more professional in the discharge of her duty.
