The Coalition of Military Pensioners has sealed off the federal ministry of finance building in Abuja over unpaid entitlements.
The retired military officers, who came from different states, said the federal government has failed to pay their 20-28 percent salary raise spanning January to November 2024.
They also demanded the payment of palliatives from October 2023 to November 2024, payment of N32,000, payment of security debarment allowance (SDA), and refund of deductions from the pensions of medically boarded soldiers.
Innocent Azubuike, one of the protesters, said non-payment of the entitlements has caused untold hardship for the retirees.
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“We were told approval has been secured for the payment of our entitlements. The only thing remaining is cash backing,” he said.
“We were told to exercise patience and assured that our long-unpaid entitlements would be settled in November. November is gone, and there is no indication of when this will happen because it’s a matter with the FMoF and not the Ministry of Defence.”
In January 2023, the military pensions board (MPB) blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks for the delay in the payment of SDA.
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In 2022, retired members of the Nigerian armed forces (REMENAF) and the coalition of concerned military veterans (CCV) picketed the ministry of defence in Abuja to protest “unpaid allowances”.
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