…Demand better salary, pension
Nigerian Union of Retired Police Officers Under Contributory Pension Scheme and human rights activists yesterday staged a protest, tagged: #PoliceProtest’, at the Force Headquarters Abuja, to demand for a better salary and retirement benefits for both serving and retired Police officers in the country.
Some of the activists include: Omoyele Sowore, Deji Adeyanju and Ɗan Bello Galadanchi and Civil Society Organizations, (CSOs).
The retired officers are demanding the exit of the Nigeria Police Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme, which they claim has subjected them to untold economic hardship, financial embarrassment, and an alarming rise in depression and deaths among retired personnel.
The placards-carrying activists alongside retired police officers stormed the force headquarters in Abuja in their numbers, chanting: ‘Pay Police Now!: Pay Police Now!‘. According to them, they deserve better pay and decent working conditions after serving the country for 35 years.
The retired officers lamented over the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) new pension scheme, describing it as unacceptable and a fraud that doesn’t serve their interest.
The retirees are demanding urgent reforms in the pension system and an end to the contributory pension scheme, which they say has failed to provide them with dignity in retirement.
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: ‘#PayPolice, Pencom is a killer disease more than cancer ; No Nigeria Police officer must earn not less than N500,000 a month ; We serve, we bleed, we deserve better pay; We are not in support of IGP”s New Pension Scheme; Enough is enough treat us with respect”.
The protesters defied the armed police officers stationed around the police facility and marched to the National Assembly gate to press home their demands, just as they called for the removal of the IGP Kayode Egbetokun.
Sowore said that no police officer should be earning not less than ₦500,000 just as he condemned the paltry sum of ₦2,000,000:00 ( Two million Naira) being paid as pension and retirement benefits for the retired Police officer.
The activist condemned the meagre salary of ₦30,000 for police officers in the country, describing it as shameful and ridiculous. He said the National Pension Commission (PenCom) is a scam being used by the senior police officers to enrich themselves, thereby subjecting the rank-and-file to untold hardship.
He vowed that the protest would continue on August 1st if their demands were not met.
As at time of filing this report, all the serving gun-toting police officers who have been drafted to prevent and stop the protesters have expressed their solidarity with the protest, while the protesters vowed not to leave the gate of the force headquarters until the IGP addressed them.
