Retired Soldiers Shut Down Finance Ministry Over Unpaid Salaries, Allowances
Scores of retired soldiers who voluntarily exited the Nigerian Army, on Monday protested at the Ministry of Finance.
The protesters who shut down the main entrance to the headquarters of the Ministry commenced the protest at about 10:15am.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the sideline of the protest on Monday, one of the leaders of the protesters, Staff Sergeant Simon Ipwu, cited the yet to be paid Security Debarment Allowance and Insurance as one of the reasons for the protest.
Others include cutting of their gratuity and withholding of their four months’ salaries when they tendered their resignation.
He vowed that they would continue lock the ministry’s headquarters until their demands were met.
Ipwu said, “We’re here because of the money we’re supposed to be paid. We wrote for voluntary disengagement because of the army’s attitude towards our work. There is a lot of mischief.
“As we left the job, from the onset, they weren’t comfortable with our leaving, so, they stopped our salaries for four months. After that, they said we were due for the gratuity but they didn’t give us the money we are entitled to.
“We wrote different letters to various quarters and we copied different offices – Army, Defence, Finance, DSS, police and many other offices like that of which we agreed with them that we should give the chance of last two weeks.
“We gave them the chance. We’re thinking that by now, they might have answered us but up till now, they didn’t answer us. Right now, our Security Debarment Allowance hasn’t been paid, our pension gratuity is short paid, our four months’ salaries they cut have not been paid, our insurance hasn’t been paid.”
Repeated phone calls to the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Appolonia Anele, a Lieutenant Colonel, were not answered.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
