Retired police officers hold protest in Abuja, Kwara, Plateau, others
Hundreds of retired police personnel, on Monday, protested across the states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to express their anger over their continued inclusion on the Contributory Pension Scheme, Daily Trust reports. They passed a vote of no confidence on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun. Our correspondents, who monitored the protest […]
Hundreds of retired police personnel, on Monday, protested across the states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to express their anger over their continued inclusion on the Contributory Pension Scheme, Daily Trust reports.
They passed a vote of no confidence on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
Our correspondents, who monitored the protest in Abuja, Kwara, Edo, Cross River, Plateau, Bauchi, among many other states, report that the demand of the angry ex-officers were the same – removal from the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Daily Trust reports that former police officers, who retired on the ranks of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) and Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) are not on the scheme.
Conversely, those who retired on the ranks of Commissioner of Police (CP) to Constable are the ones placed on the scheme being maintained by PenCom.
The retired police officers claimed that they had been pushed to the wall with the government’s unresponsive attitude to their yearnings about what they tagged “discriminatory pension scheme”.
Speaking during the protest in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, the legal adviser for Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria (ARPON) and retired Superintendent of Police (SP), Adekunle Iwalaiye, specifically described their plight as a ticking time-bomb for the country’s internal security.
“When officers know they will retire into poverty, they stop caring about integrity. That is how corruption grows. You cannot pay a man 2.4 million after 35 years and expect him to retire with dignity,” Iwalaiye said.
He added that several members are battling health issues without any form of support, despite dedicating the best years of their lives to national service.
Around 9:50am, hundreds of retired personnel of the force defied heavy downpour in the nation’s capital and marched to the National Assembly to express their grievances over their continued existence on the contributory pension scheme.
Chanting solidarity songs and different comments, the protesters first marched to the main entrance of the legislative chambers before heading for the Force Headquarters where they blocked the main entrance to the popular Force Headquarters and reiterated their displeasure.
The demonstrators, comprising elderly ex-police personnel were led by their leader, Mannir Lawal, a 67-year-old retired Chief Superintendent of Police; a former Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress in 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore; a human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju and many other activists.
The protesters, wielding different placards with various inscriptions inside rain, insisted that their welfare and dignity had been neglected for too long, and as such, they would not listen to any promise until the leadership of the national assembly attended to their plight.
Speaking to journalists on the sideline of the protest, Lawal, who doubles as the Chairman of Police Officers Retirees on Contributory Pension Scheme, Kaduna State branch, described the scheme as “exploitative and unjust”, and called on the government to exit police retirees from the scheme with immediate effect.
“We are here to ask the government to remove us from the 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,” the senior retired police officers told journalists.
Daily Trust reports that security operatives drawn from the Federal Capital Territory Command and the Department of State Services (DSS) were seen monitoring the protest and controlling the crowd to prevent any possible breakdown of law and order.
Retired police officers in Plateau, while protesting at the state police headquarters in Jos, accused the federal government of being ‘used and dumped’.
They said that they would not accept ill-treatment being meted out on them by the Nigerian Police through the contributory pension scheme.
The retired officers, comprising men and women, turned out in large numbers and in black attire with placards with different inscriptions.
Presenting their letter of complaint to the Plateau State Police Commissioner, the retirees said the Nigerian government had used them and dumped them, forcing them to become beggars and succumb to various illnesses.
The state chairman of the retirees, Ayuba Gora, who spoke on their behalf said, the Nigerian Police has no regard for them, making it difficult for them to survive and support their families.
Responding to the protesters, the state Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Adesina, told the retirees that their complaints would be delivered to the IGP and assured them that their cry would be heard.
The story was not different in Ilorin, Kwara State capital where the ex-officers, under the Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria (ARPON), demanded immediate exemption from the scheme and the creation of a dedicated Police Pension Board.
Also dressed in black and holding placards with bold messages that read “We Are Not Slaves”, “Exempt Us from CPS Now”, among others, the retirees marched through major streets before converging at the Nigeria Union of Journalists Press Centre.
They expressed frustration over what they called a life of misery after decades of service to the country, adding that their gratuities after 35 years in uniform were less than ₦3 million, while others lamented monthly pensions as low as ₦30,000.
“This scheme is a trap. It is robbing those who gave their lives to this country. It is unjust, it is degrading, and it must stop”, said Yakubu Jimoh, the state chairman of ARPON and a retired Chief Superintendent of Police.
Jimoh also criticized former top-ranking police officers, including former Inspectors General and their deputies, for allegedly exiting the scheme quietly while leaving junior officers to suffer.
We’re dying, Edo police pensioners cry out
On their part, the Edo State chapter of the National Association of Retired Police Officers Contributory Pension Scheme, said they are now living in abject poverty following the meager monthly pension they are receiving courtesy of the scheme.
Addressing journalists on behalf of the association, the state chairman, Anthony Nnachor, a retired Superintendent of Police lamented that officers who have served their country meritoriously can barely feed themselves.
He said it has become imperative for them to tell the world the problem they are going through, saying they can no longer meet up with their primary responsibility as parents after serving their country meritoriously.
“Police pensioners are dying on a daily basis due to lack of money to treat themselves while they are sick. This is a peaceful protest. Everybody seated here with me would have served in the force for 35 years meritoriously.”
Bauchi retirees converge on Abuja
In Bauchi State, the leadership of the retired police officers delegated members to represent the State branch at the nationwide protest in Abuja.
A member of the group, Adamu Usman Baba, a retired Assistant Superintendent of Police, told one of our correspondents that the union delegated some of their members to represent the Bauchi branch at the protest in order to make their voice louder than before.
When Daily Trust visited the office of the retired police officers behind the Bauchi State Police Command, and venue for the proposed protest, there was no presence of any protester on ground.
Similarly, retired policemen in Cross River State slammed Egbetokun-led police force, saying they no longer have confidence in his leadership again, while calling on the federal government to exempt them from the Scheme.
The protesters, who were led by Elder Ofem Mbang, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), marched to the state police command on Diamond Hill Calabar where the state commissioner of police, Rashid Afegbua addressed them.
I’m not opposed to your exemption from CPS – IGP
In his reaction to the nationwide protest, the IGP, Egbetokun, denied opposing the retirees’ removal from the scheme.
He also reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to addressing the plight of retired officers under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“I am not opposed to your exit from the CPS. I’m not opposed to it. If exiting from CPS will solve the problem, I will go for it. But if it is difficult for us to exit CPS, what else can we do? We have been agitating, exit CPS, exit CPS. For the past 11 years, it has not worked,” he explained.
Speaking with the aggrieved former officers at the Force Headquarters, the IGP expressed empathy for their situation, stating that the issue of poor retirement benefits was a concern for serving officers as well.
He said, “We all feel concerned. We empathise with you because we are also going to retire. I have been engaging at the highest level to ensure that something is done to improve the condition of the poor pensioner.”
Egbetokun disclosed that he had just come from a meeting with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, where the welfare of retired police officers was also discussed.
He said, “Even right now, I was just coming from a meeting with the NSA. The subject matter is the poor pension of retired officers. There are things that we need to do to ensure that your suffering in retirement is alleviated.
“There are a number of things that we have done, steps that I have been taking, the details of which I would not like to disclose with the press present. But I just want to assure you that we empathise with you and we are not just folding our arms. We are doing a lot to ensure that something is done.”
He, however, cautioned the retirees against being used by external actors with ulterior motives.
“Don’t allow the enemies of the police to use you. Be suspicious of those who pretend to be on your side. They may not mean well for you,” he warned.
The IG also stressed that while past administrations have made efforts to pull the police out of the CPS, the process is beyond the powers of any individual Inspector-General.
He said, “The agitation to exit the CPS has been on since 2014, 11 years ago. All previous IGs have tried their best to remove the police from the CPS. But exiting the CPS is beyond the power of any Inspector General of Police.
“There are a lot of things that are involved. But what we’re interested in is ensuring that our retired officers live a good life after serving the country for 35 years. That is what we want.
“Even while in the CPS, this is what I have said that people have misconstrued. They have misinterpreted it as meaning that it is not until you exit the CPS that you can earn a good pension. Even with the CPS, we can improve the operation of that CPS and ensure that you are happy in retirement.
“There have been several efforts in the past to exit, and it’s not working. So as IG, I started thinking that we have to start looking for alternative ways of addressing the challenges. And it is these alternative ways I’m working on that people are misinterpreting as I am opposing your exit from CPS.”
By Idowu Isamotu, Dalhatu Liman (Abuja), Ado Musa (Jos), Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin), Usman Bello (Benin), Hassan Ibrahim (Bauchi) & Eyo Charles (Calabar)