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• IGP meets protesters, denies opposing exit from pension scheme
From Molly Kilete, Abuja and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Retired personnel of the Nigerian Police Force, yesterday, stormed major cities across the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in their numbers to protest their continued existence on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
The aggrieved retired security operatives under the banner of the National Association of Retired Police Officers Contributory Pension Scheme (NARPO-CPS), who stormed both the Louis Edet House headquarters of the Nigerian Police Force and the National Assembly, carrying various placards defied the rainfall to express their grievances. Chanting “Pay police a living wage and proper pensions,” the group brandished placards showing their demands for both serving and retired police officers.
Some of the placards read: “Decent Salaries Now,” “End Police Slavery,” “Pensions for Police Officers,” and “Dignity for Those in Uniform.”
The protesters, who were prevented from entering the Force headquarters, were, however, given police escorts to prevent any breakdown of law and order as they proceeded to the National Assembly where they occupied the entrance gate.
The protesters, mostly elderly former police personnel, chanted solidarity songs as they stood in the rain, insisting that their welfare and dignity had been neglected for too long.
Despite the rain, the pensioners stood their ground vowing not to leave until their concerns were addressed by the leadership of the National Assembly.
CSP Manir Lawal called on the government to urgently exit police retirees from the pension scheme, which he described as exploitative and unjust.
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“We are here to ask the government to remove us from the Contributory Pension Scheme (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.”
In Edo State, the retired police officers also joined their counterparts across the country in protesting poor pension conditions under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which they described as a “killer policy” that has plunged them into poverty and avoidable suffering.
Addressing journalists on behalf of the association, the state chairman, SP Anthony Nnachor, said the officers who had served their country meritoriously can barely feed themselves while others were dying on a daily basis due to lack of money to treat themselves when they are unwell.
“It has become imperative for us to tell the world the problem we are going through. We are now living in abject poverty and we can no longer meet up with our primary responsibility as parents.
“Majority of us are dying everyday. What is the main reason? The police in 2004 established a Pension Act. The serving members of the scheme are supposed to contribute seven percent, while the Federal Government will contribute eight percent as at then, which means that you are working for your retirement. It is the money that you have worked that they will use to pay you. At the end of your service, they will calculate what is called the lump sum and give you 25 percent.
“If you are somebody who has N10 million, they may give you N2 million. On a monthly basis, they will spread it. You see some of us here, some are paid N25,000, N30,000, N40,000, even some commissioner of police
“What we want now is for the Federal Government to exit us from this evil Contributory Pension Scheme.
“The scheme is a killer disease, we have been in this struggle since 2019. We are calling on President Bola Tinubu to hear our cry and prevail on relevant agencies that are against our exit to remove us from the scheme,” Nnachor said.
