Scores of retired police officers staged a peaceful demonstration in the Federal Capital Territory today, calling on the Federal Government to immediately exempt them from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which they described as exploitative and unsustainable.
Chanting solidarity songs and bearing placards, the ex-servicemen decried what they termed years of neglect and financial hardship following their retirement, blaming the pension scheme for plunging many of them into poverty and avoidable suffering.
The retirees, many of whom served the nation for over three decades, expressed outrage over the disparities in the pension structure, arguing that while senior officers who attained the ranks of Generals are excluded from the CPS, thousands of lower-ranking personnel continue to suffer under the current model.
Comrade Moses Andrew, the FCT Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, condemned the continued inclusion of police retirees in the CPS, stating:
“Retired police officers deserve better. After serving their country for decades, they’re left struggling financially while politicians enjoy generous pensions. It’s time for change.”
Other demonstrators, including retired DSP Godwin Thom, DSP Ibrahim Magaji, Inspector Shehu Bala, Woman Inspector Litini Akwashiki, and ASP Joshua Bitrus, called on the government to address the injustice, citing years of meritorious service rendered by the affected officers.
“It is disheartening for senior citizens to earn peanuts as monthly pension and even money that cannot get you anything as gratuity,” said one of the retirees. “Just imagine somebody, who retired after 35 years, being given less than N2 million.”
The protestors lamented that most of them now receive monthly pensions as low as N
20,000 a sum they said is insufficient to afford basic commodities.
“Our wives and children are suffering. Most of our members are dying prematurely of all forms of illness. We can’t take care of our children either,” another protester noted.
While acknowledging that there had been complicity in some administrative shortcomings in the past, the retirees insisted that as human beings and patriots, they deserve dignity in retirement.