Benue pensioners protest in heavy rainfall

Protesting pensioners have refused to leave the premises of Benue State Government House in Makurdi despite heavy rainfall on Thursday. Daily Trust reports that the elderly retired government workers who earlier notified the state government last weekend about the intended protest which they commenced on Wednesday have vowed to continue indefinitely until their demands are […]

Protesting pensioners have refused to leave the premises of Benue State Government House in Makurdi despite heavy rainfall on Thursday.

Daily Trust reports that the elderly retired government workers who earlier notified the state government last weekend about the intended protest which they commenced on Wednesday have vowed to continue indefinitely until their demands are met.

Chairman of the pensioners in the state, Peter Kyado, said they are being owed over N28 billion entitlements by the state government.

The protesters who dressed in black had besieged the government house gate at about 11:00am on Wednesday, carrying placards in one hand and bearing green leaves in the other, spent the night on the premises.

Some of them who spoke to our correspondent said they would not leave the premises until Governor Samuel Ortom, who was attending a meeting in Abuja, returns to pay them their entitlements.

One of them, David Agur, said he was being owed 20 months pension since his retirement in 2015, stressing that life had not been easy with him occasioned by financial difficulty.

Similarly, Frannie Abayol, lamented her poor situation as she alleged not to have been paid for over five years. “I’ve even lost count of the number of months that the state government is owing me,” she said.

It is the second day of protest at the gate of Government House in Makurdi.