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Retired police officers under the umbrella of the contributory pension scheme have threatened to commence on protest following government's failure to remove them from the scheme.
Recall that the leadership of the National Assembly promised to addressed their demands by September 2024.
The retired officers, have been protesting since 2020 to demand their removal from the scheme.
The protests were suspended following the assurance by the National Assembly.
The retirees claimed they were living in poverty under the contributory pension scheme, noting that other retired security personnel have already been exempted from the system.
The National Coordinator of the Police Retirees, Christopher Effiong, expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in exempting them from the scheme.
He added that preparations were underway to mobilise protests at various locations across the country until the government meets their demands.
Effiong said, “When retired AIGs, DIGs and other security agents were removed from the scheme they did not go through hell like we are being subjected to.
“We don’t understand what the national assembly are doing, since they made us suspend our protests. The September they promised as it not elapsed? We all knew how the bill seeking to extend the tenure of the IG was hurriedly passed. What has happened to ours? We’re already mobilising across the country, we’ll hit the streets soon.”
A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Adedayo Adeoye, urged the government to heed the call of the retirees.
Adeoye said a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, close to him, receives N35,000 as a monthly pension, adding that the money could not sustain him.
He said, “We need our policemen to be provided with a good retirement life; let them retire at the age of 60. The retirement benefit of an average policeman is inadequate because they are under the CPS. It’s shameful."
