FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
Leaders and members of the National Association of Retired Police Officers, under the Contributory Pension Scheme, have called on the federal government to exit them from the scheme, as it is characterised with fraud and corruption.
The pensioners in a protest to the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Benin City, said they are tired of being in the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Addressing journalists, the Edo State Chairman of the Contributory Pension Scheme, SP Anthony Nnachor (rtd) said they want the federal government to remove them from the scheme.
He lamented that most of their members had lost their lives because of the insufficient funds they are receiving.
According to Nnachor, “We are here to let the world know the predicament we are passing through. We are on a peaceful mission. Everybody here seated with me would have served in the force for 35 years meritoriously.
“It has become imperative for us to tell the world the problem we are going through. We are now living in abject poverty and we can no longer meet up with our primary responsibility as parents.
“The majority of us are dying everyday. What is the main reason? The police in 20O4 established a Pension Act . Serving members of the scheme are supposed to contribute seven percent, while the federal government contributes eight percent as at then.
He stated that the scheme is a killer disease, we have been in this struggle since 2019. The ninth Assembly passed our bill to ensure justice, but the 10th Assembly could not harmonise it, that is where we are today. We have done public hearing several times, the most annoying part of it is that this public hearing had been adjourned indefinitely.
They called on President Bola Tinubu to hear their cry and prevail on relevant agencies to remove them from the scheme.
Also speaking, the Publicity Secretary of the association, SP Johnson Oyamenda (rtd) advocated for the abolition of the Nigeria Police Fund Penson due to its fraudulent nature.
He appealed to the Inspector- General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun to help them facilitate the process of exiting from the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Another retired officer in the pension scheme, Comrade John Adu stated that the police cannot be taken for granted, appealing for transparency and accountability in the process of the pension company.
The retired officers went round some major streets in Benin City in protest of the alleged injustice in the scheme.
