Esther Marcus who claims to be a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, has shared her experience of being underpaid after 35 years of service.
In a viral video, Marcus, who claimed to have joined the force at the age of 16, disclosed that after retiring in 2018, she received N1.7 million as her gratuity and was subsequently placed on a monthly pension of N40,000.
Voicing her frustration over what she called the “dirty contributory pension scheme,” she said, “My name is Esther Marcus, a retired DSP of the Nigeria Police Force. I retired on November 1, 2018. I just want to use myself as a case study. It is applicable to every other police officer under this dirty contributory pension scheme.
“After serving for 35 years, though I joined the Nigeria Police Force at a very young age, I escorted a friend; unfortunately, she was not selected, but I was chosen because I was tall, even though I was not yet 16 when I joined the police.
“When I retired in 2018, I waited for over a year before I was given N1.7 million after 35 years. Then, after waiting for another three months, they started paying me N40,000 as my monthly pension after giving me N1.7 million and that applies to every other policeman who retired under this dirty scheme called the contributory pension scheme. That is what we’ve been going through.”
According to her, the federal government has ignored their pleas despite multiple public hearings on the issue.
Marcus added, “This struggle has been ongoing for over 10 years now because when I retired in 2018, there was a police retirees meeting. They started it in 2017 or thereabout and all our cries to the federal government have been met with deaf ears. It is not an insult, but that is the truth.
“They are aware of what we are going through. They have held about three or four public hearings on this case. But when personnel of the army was retiring, the DSS and other paramilitary forces — there was nothing like a public hearing.”
Marcus also highlighted what she saw as inequality within the police force, claiming that senior officers like Assistant Inspectors General, AIGs, Deputy Inspectors General, Digs, and the Inspector General, IGP, have been exempted from this pension scheme.
“The AIGs, DIGs and IGP have exempted themselves from this dirty contributory pension scheme. They only left commissioners of police downwards; they are the ones suffering it.
“The president cannot say he has not heard of this issue. He knows what is happening,” she said.
Marcus, determined to continue the fight for justice, vowed that retired police officers would not stop advocating for their rights. “Let me tell you, we will never stop fighting because even those coming behind us, you cannot just see injustice and not fight against it. It is not possible.
“How do you expect me to survive on N40,000? That is for me as a DSP. We have two-star officers and one-star officers who are receiving N28,000 and you want them to survive on this? What offence did the police commit to deserve this ill-treatment?
“We will not stop fighting. What we are planning now is to go and occupy the National Assembly and call CNN to cover the whole programme.”
She added that anyone opposing this reform is akin to a vulture, waiting for the vulnerable to perish.
“Anyone who is against us will not escape from this evil bondage. That person, that man, that group who does not want the police to be exempted from this evil— they are vultures because a vulture only waits for its victim to die, then it comes to feed. And that is what has been happening.”
Marcus stated that it is unrealistic to expect police officers to stop engaging in corrupt practices when they know retirement will bring them into such financial circumstances.
She said, “You want the police, knowing fully well that when they retire, they are going into hell; you want them to stop corruption? They will continue collecting bribe. They will continue extorting. They will continue enriching themselves by whatever means they can.”
