Ex-Biafra soldiers get military pension

The military has started payment of pensions to soldiers of the Nigerian Army who defected to fight for Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War.

The Chairman of the Military Pensions Board, Air Commodore Mohammed Dabo, disclosed during the visit of the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, to the headquarters of the Board in Abuja.

 According to Dabo, the Board has listed 160 ex Biafran soldiers granted pardon by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000 for the payment of their monthly pension.

He said: “The Federal Government in May 2000 granted Presidential pardon to personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces who defected to Biafra during the civil war. Their dismissal was therefore commuted to retirement.”

Dabo added that: “Subsequently, the Federal Government directed for their inclusion in the pension payroll which has generated a lot of irreconcilable problems.”

He said: “For instance, the ex-service men are currently paid monthly pension on the bar; that is assuming that they are 35 years of service irrespective of actual level of service. One of the major contentious issues is the continuous receipt of additional list of Presidential pardoned soldiers published in various Federal Government gazettes.”

 “Additionally, the issue has also generated agitation from ex-soldiers who served on the Federal side but were not considered eligible for pension because they served less than 15 years,” Dabo said.

He also appealed to the Minister to intercede on the contentious issue of the non-payment of 20 percent pension increment and the arrears of 53 percent increment for military pensioners approved since 2010.

Dabo further said the board has collated the accurate information and has been paying 130 thousand veterans who have been receiving their pensions.

He also pointed out that the Board is challenged with inadequate budgetary provision for capital projects, payment of retirement and death benefits because of the recent hike of death in the military.

Responding, Obanikoro stated that government is committed to resolving the issue of welfare especially in the armed forces, especially regarding issues of pension and the benefits to next-of-kin of soldiers killed in action.

He said troops should not be preoccupied with thoughts of what happens to their families as they face their duty which may result in death.

Obanikoro noted that, government is giving ‘highlighted attention’ to the protest of veterans over the delay in the payment of their arrears.

He also said, “For the first time in 25 years, we have a President that is committed to equipping the military; what we are reaping is the mistake of the past; we have not made the right investments.”