Police retirees urge NASS to pass bill exiting them from pension scheme

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Police retirees urge NASS to pass bill exiting them from pension scheme

NIGERIA police retirees have cried out to the National Assembly to“quickly pass the bill before it to enable them to exit from contributory pension scheme which they said has impoverished them and subjected them to serious hardship.

The Police retirees said the bill before the National Assembly would create a Police Pensions Board which would handle the retirement issues of the police. They said that their counterparts in the army and DSS have since exited contributory pension scheme and their pension matters are being smoothly handled by boards created for that purpose.

Speaking to journalists yesterday, members of Enugu State branch of police retirees lamented the hardship they are passing through under the contributory pension scheme. According to them, they receive pittance ranging N30000 to N46000 as monthly pension, which they said could not even take care of their medications let alone feeding their families.

They wondered why the bill before the National Assembly to set up a Police Pension Board, which they said had already passed 1st and 2nd reading should be taking time to pass into law.

They therefore appealed to the members of the 9th Assembly to do everything within their power to ensure the bill is passed into law before they wind up, saying they would have saved many families from agony.

They said they would not like a situation where they would be pushed to move to Abuja with their family members to occupy the police force headquarters and National Assembly.

According to the Enugu State Chairman of police retirees, Christopher Odugu, “their appeal has become necessary due to the hardship they are going through with their families”.

He called on the National Assembly to save their souls by ensuring that the bill is passed into law before the expiration of their tenure in June so that retired policemen would exit the contributory pension scheme.

Odugu who was flanked by other state executives and members, noted that“their continued stay in the Police Pension scheme had brought untold hardship to the retirees from the police force.

“We want the Federal Government to amend the 2014 Pension Act so as to save us from dying after serving the country for 35 years.

“Our lump-sum and monthly pension are so meager compared to other security agencies like the retired soldiers, DSS operatives and the National Intelligence Agency officials.

“Ironically, the Nigerian Army, the DSS and NIA are the children of the Nigerian Police. They were created from the police and perform less functions compared to the Police for the security of Nigeria.

“It is funny that the Police have abandoned and neglected us to suffer after 35 years of service to the country.

“Members of the Nigeria Police Force being the frontline security agency are involved in sustaining the internal security of this country. They are also involved in the performance of other military duties as provided in section 4(e) and section 8 of the Police Act 2020.

“They are more exposed to danger daily than other security agencies that are even exempted, and as such, deserve better treatment during and after service”, the retirees said.