Headlines
Imo pensioners besiege Government House, indict Gov Uzodimma
Also speaking, Dr. Ibeagi Obiora who retired as a veterinary doctor in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture, said this was not the case during the short tenure of former governor, Emeka Ihedioha
BY IGWE OKOSO
Pensioners in Imo State took to the streets on Tuesday to protest unpaid pensions and gratuities owed them by the state government.
They practically shut down the state capital, Owerri, particularly the government house axis, for hours while security operatives tried to manage the situation from further degenerating.
While some of them carried plates begging alms from motorists as they sang sorrowful songs, others brandished placards with inscriptions such as, ‘BVN saga a ploy to steal our money’, ‘Retirees demand their pensions’, ‘What offense did pensioners commit?’ among others.
The pensioners also alleged that 42 of their members had died in the past five months as a result of non-payment of their pensions.
Speaking to journalists on behalf of the protesters, the chairman Pension Intervention Committee of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Iyke Ohaneje, expressed grievances over the arrears owed them, according to The Nation.
He claimed that pensioners in the state were owed a backlog of pensions arrears over a period of four months from February till date.
Ohaneje however claimed that the pensioners were not demonstrating nor trying to disrupt government activities, but on the streets to beg for alms to feed themselves since the government had refused to pay them.
He said, “We’re not here to demonstrate. We’re not here to disrupt government activities. But we are here to seek help from good spirited people of Imo State so as to feed our families. The reason is because Governor Hope Uzodimma has refused to pay us since four months. We cannot afford to stay idle while our members and their families are dying of hunger.
READ: WORKERS’ DAY RALLY: YOU’RE A HYPOCRITE, OTTI SLAMS IKPEAZU
“Already, 42 of our members have died since February till date. These are the ones we have their records. But there are those in various rural villages whose deaths have not been reported as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. So, we are begging you people to help us with money to buy food.
“We’re telling government to release our pensions. It is not their money. It is our money saved from our salaries over time which we asked government to keep for us so that when we retire, it will be paid to us as pensions’.
Also speaking, Dr. Ibeagi Obiora who retired as a veterinary doctor in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture, said this was not the case during the short tenure of former governor, Emeka Ihedioha.
“Governor Uzodimma is claiming to be saving N2 billion monthly, and increasing the state internal revenue, yet he doesn’t want to pay us our pensions. My problem is that the state government is claiming to have cleared pension arrears and calling us ghost pensioners. Let them come out and see the over 3,000 pensioners protesting here today that we are not ghost pensioners”, Obiora said.
Addressing the protesters, the Secretary to the Government of Imo State, Cosmas Iwu, who responded on behalf of the governor, commended the pensioners for their composure, assuring that their pensions would be received before the week runs out.
The SSG said the delay in the payment was not deliberate but was due to the inconsistency contained in the pension list.
Iwu assured that the problems with pensioners salary and gratuity have been ratified, adding that the government of Governor Uzodimma has come to solve problems and not to apportion blames.