Hundreds of pensioners in Edo State made up of those who retired from the state and local government service, yesterday, took over the city centre, otherwise known as Oba Ovonranmwen Square and caused gridlock in all adjoining roads such as Sapele, Akpakpava, Airport, Siluko and Sokponba and adjoining streets in protest over unpaid pension arrears, gratuities and non harmonization of monthly pay.
The senior citizens armed with placards with various inscriptions took over the area as early as 7a.m., and turned back several vehicles, forcing them to take alternative routes.
Speaking on the development, Public Relations Officer, Edo State chapter of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, Claudette Ehanire, said:
Quote
“We are here to let the world know of the sufferings of pensioners in the state. I am from the local government, I retired in 2010 and till now, I am yet to get my gratuity.
“Those who retired before me in 2008 and 2009 have not been paid their gratuities, let alone those who are just retiring. I retired on Level 15 (
, I am on N73,000, my juniors that are retiring now are on N100,000 to N200,000, this is because there was no harmonisation.
“We have written several times, the governor earmaked some money for payment of local government pension arrears. They started paying from 1982 and we were grouped, but not a single batch was cleared and some were not paid at all.
“For state pensioners, the government has paid some backlog for those who retired in 2012, they did screening for them and collected their pay advice, which means as they collect their yellow cards, they pay them their money but after collecting their yellow card, they did not credit them. Those still alive cannot even fight for it because they have no proof that they have been screened since 2017.”
“Those who retired before me in 2008 and 2009 have not been paid their gratuities, let alone those who are just retiring. I retired on Level 15 (
, I am on N73,000, my juniors that are retiring now are on N100,000 to N200,000, this is because there was no harmonisation.“We have written several times, the governor earmaked some money for payment of local government pension arrears. They started paying from 1982 and we were grouped, but not a single batch was cleared and some were not paid at all.
“For state pensioners, the government has paid some backlog for those who retired in 2012, they did screening for them and collected their pay advice, which means as they collect their yellow cards, they pay them their money but after collecting their yellow card, they did not credit them. Those still alive cannot even fight for it because they have no proof that they have been screened since 2017.”
Another pensioner, Ayeye Francis, said he retired in 2000 on Level 7 and has been on N9,000 monthly but lamented that because of non-harmonisation, somebody who retired at Level 3 receives over N28,000 monthly.
The state deputy governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, who came to address the protesters after meeting with their leaders, appealed for calm and urged them to meet among themselves and come out with a workable strategy to clear the issues in form of advice to the government.
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