Ex-military men who fought on the side of the government of Nigeria during the civil war protested Wednesday in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, against their unpaid pension 44 years after.
The aged ex-military men across the North and South West carried placards with various inscriptions including, “We are dying in silence”, “Our former coordinator died in the pursuit of this exercise” and “44years of unpaid pension to the Nigerian civil war veterans”.
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Their spokesman and National Coordinator of the First Intake Able Voluntary Retired or Discharged 10 or More Years in Military Service, Pa Babawande Philips, said a larger part of their members were living below the poverty level.
Philips wondered why their members had continued to suffer in the last 44 years when Biafran soldiers that fought against the country had been paid.
He said, “They have denied us of our pensions. The irony of it is that they said we are not qualified because we didn’t clock 15 years in service. It was Decree 102 they used against us.
“This Decree 102 was not supposed to be used against us because they didn’t use it against the Biafrans that fought with Nigeria.”
Philips further said their agitation started in 2002 and that they had continued to wait for succour from the government.
He added that, “Now, they are claiming that anyone that doesn’t serve up to 15 years is not qualified to receive pension. But they have forgotten that there was a circular that came out in 1977, where it was stated that any soldier that clocks 10 years or more, but less than 15 years, is qualified to receive pension, and they would be entitled to 40 per cent of their terminal salaries.
“I don’t know whether they are not aware of this circular. If they are not aware of it, they should go and search for it. We have all these documents with us. We have the verification papers, biometrically captured in 2007 and 2015. We all have it with us. So, we don’t know the reason why they should continue to punish us. A lot of my people are in abject poverty, many have died.”
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