Unpaid pension: Edo retirees hold prayer session

Alexander Okere, Benin

VEHICULAR movement at the Oba Ovonramwen Square in Benin was on Tuesday grounded for several hours as the protest by retired civil servants in Edo State over the non-payment of their pension arrears and gratuities entered the second week.

The protesters, who were clad in red attire and waved banners with inscriptions to draw public attention to their grievances, also held a prayer session on the busy Ring Road axis close to the Oredo Local Government Area secretariat.

The development drew the attention of sympathisers and traders, some of whom stood by to watch as the pensioners chanted solidarity songs.

 Their spokesman, Mr. Gabriel Osemwenkha, explained that the aggrieved pensioners decided to seek the face of God for divine intervention.

 Osemwenkha said, “We are having a prayer session because the Federal Republic of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, gave every state of the federation London-Paris Club loan refund to settle retirees’ pension arrears in the states. The first tranche that was given to Edo State was N11.38bn.

 “We waited patiently for quite a long time. Nothing was done with it; we don’t want anything to happen to it. They brought the second tranche, which is N12.18bn. We expected him (Governor Godwin Obaseki) to spend same for settlement of retirees’ pension arrears and gratuities, but nothing also happened.”

 He dismissed the speculation that the protest was sponsored.

 “Our coming here is spontaneous. No person asked us to come. We just want to tell the public that this is our predicament; this is what we are facing in the state,” he added.

The state governor, Obaseki, had during his meeting with members of the National Association of Nigerian Accountants said that the state government was not indebted to pensioners, while the payment of local government pensions was the responsibility of the councils.

But one of the protesters, Judith Enabulele, wondered why the governor would distance himself from the payment of LG retirees’ pensions when the councils were allegedly financially dependent on the state government.

Enabulele said, “He said that he was not in charge of the local governments. We want him to come out and tell the world where we should go.”

Another pensioner, Irene Aiguobarueghian, lamented that political and religious leaders had failed to show concern about the plight of retired civil servants owed by the state government.

Aiguobarueghian stated, “This is the fourth day that we have been out (protesting). We have opinion leaders in this state; we have traditional rulers in this state; we have church leaders and political leaders in this state. Up till now, no one has come out to speak about our agitation. Last Friday, we were at Imaguero (College) waiting to see our governor. Chiefs, traditional rulers drove past us; no one could come out to tell the governor about our plight.”

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Source: Punchng
Unpaid pension: Edo retirees hold prayer session

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