*Pays military retirees after “mother of all protests”
*Retirees who had blocked entrance of Finance Ministry left after receiving alerts
*For months, they had been told there were no funds to clear their entitlements
*Spokesperson for the Veterans, Durowaiye-Herberts, confirmed alerts had started coming
By Emmanuel Obisue
Protesting retired military personnel began receiving credit alerts for the full payment of their long-overdue entitlements on Tuesday, prompting them to leave the protest site and dismantle the canopies and chairs they had set up to block the entrance of the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja.
Nigerian Pilot reports that the retirees had barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Finance as early as 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning in what they tagged “mother of all protests”, using canopies and chairs to demand the full payment of their entitlements. Their actions prevented staff members from driving into the premises, forcing many to park their vehicles outside.
The protest followed a similar action in December last year, during which the retirees shut down the ministry over the government’s failure to settle their claims. For months, they had been told there were no funds available to clear their entitlements, despite official approval for the payments. They were owed a 20% to 28% salary increment covering January to November 2024.
The retirees also demanded payments for other outstanding benefits, including palliatives for the period between October 2023 and November 2024, an additional ₦32,000 added to their pensions, a bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance, and a refund of pension deductions from the salaries of medically boarded soldiers.
In response to their December protests, the federal government had paid 50% of the owed entitlements and promised to settle the balance. However, when the promise went unfulfilled, the retirees resumed their protests on Tuesday.
Efforts by a team of police officers from the Federal Capital Territory, other security agencies, and senior ministry staff to persuade the retirees to call off the protest were unsuccessful. The protesters insisted they would only leave upon receiving credit alerts for their entitlements.
Shortly before the retirees began receiving their alerts, the Chairman of the Military Pension Board, Air Vice Marshal Paul Irumheson, addressed the group, confirming that the funds for their entitlements had been transferred to the board.
“We have received the money for the payment of your entitlements, and in the next few minutes, you will start seeing your alerts. We plead with you to leave as we are making efforts to ensure everyone gets paid,” Irumheson said.
The spokesperson for the Coalition for Concerned Veterans, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, confirmed that the alerts had started coming through. “Our people have started receiving the alerts. We are now evacuating the ministry headquarters to return to our various homes,” Durowaiye-Herberts said.
Another leader of the veteran community, Aliyu Umar, also confirmed the development, expressing frustration at the government’s earlier claims.
“Yes, we have started receiving our money. They said there was no money—so where did this come from? Do we always have to protest before we are given our entitlements”, Umar said.
