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By Lawrence Agbo
Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force on Monday staged a protest in Abuja, blocking one of the gates of the Presidential Villa as they urged President Bola Tinubu to sign the Police Exit Bill into law.
The protesters, under the umbrella of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, demanded the removal of the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which they described as fraudulent, inhumane and exploitative.
Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “End CPS” and “If military, DSS were removed from PENCOM, why not police?”, the retirees said the protest was aimed at pressing the president to assent to the bill passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026.
Speaking during the protest, the National Coordinator of the forum, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd), said their primary demand was the signing of the bill that would exempt police personnel from the CPS.
According to him, other security agencies, including the military and intelligence services, had already been removed from the scheme, leaving police officers at a disadvantage.
Some of the retirees expressed frustration over their welfare, lamenting poor pension payments and the inability to meet basic needs after decades of service.
A retired ASP, Nurudeen Dahiru, said the group was not seeking confrontation but justice, noting that many former officers were struggling to survive despite serving the country for over three decades.
“We are not begging anybody. We have come to fight for our rights. We have suffered.
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“We are not here to fight anybody. We are just here to demand for our rights. We have served for 35 years.
“According to the Constitution of the country, when you serve your country for 35 years, you should go home and rest. But see us suffering now. We are not able to take care of our children.
“We have no food to eat. We are dying. Silent killing. So this contributory pension scheme is a killer disease. 35 years is not easy. We are not here to fight anybody.”
Another retired officer said, “We don’t have anything to train them. As I retired 20 years ago, how much are they paying me?
“It is 24,000 that I am paying you because I retired with the inspector. So they have to sign our bill and give us all our money.
“So that somebody can use it for something. You can buy a house. And then now we don’t have a house.
“How can an ASP, a DSP, a CP retire and they are paying him how much? No, no, no. Enough is enough. It is a do or die. Even if some people are killed today, others are coming.”
The protest adds to a series of demonstrations by retired police personnel calling for pension reforms and improved welfare, as they continue to push for the immediate signing of the exit bill.
