Retired military officers block Defence Ministry, demand payment of benefits

Not even the early morning downpour could deter them as they were intent on receiving arrears of their benefits. Some retired military officers, defied the Monday morning rain and blocked the headquarters of Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence, Abuja.

The aggrieved protesters, joined by some relatives of deceased personnel, took over the access road to the ministry, located at Ship House on Olusegun Obasanjo Way, in the Federal Capital Territory, protesting the non-payment of their Security Debarment Allowance, among others.

Coming under the aegis of Retired Members of Nigerian Armed Forces (RMNAF) and the Coalition of Concerned Veterans (CCV), the retired officers accused the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (Retd), of being insensitive to their plight.

Addressing reporters during the protest, the CCV spokesman, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, vowed that the protesters would not leave the ministry’s entrance until their demands were met. He said they had already made arrangement to sleep overnight if the situation warranted.

“We are here alongside our wives and children, and the widows of late military personnel and veterans who died in service, some of whom died fighting Boko Haram terrorists. We’ll be sleeping over at this place until the Minister of Defence, Magashi accede to our demands,” he said.

On his part, the National Secretary of RMNAF, Roy Okhidievbie, who explained that the demonstration was to demand the payment of their security debarment allowance owed them by the Federal Government, accused the minister of refusing to disburse the allowances despite approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.

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“We have had meetings with the Defence Minister, Magashi, but he appears to be headstrong, heartless, and unperturbed concerning the grievances of retired military officers, as he never paid nor showed any interest or concern to pay these allowances, especially the Security Debarment Allowance.

“Interestingly, President Buhari-led administration has approved the payment of this allowance, but Magashi have refused to make disbursements,” Okhidievbie said.

Anna Nanven, whose husband, a Corporal, was killed by Boko Haram terrorists during an attack on a military barracks in Borno State, in 2015, told Daily Trust that she had only received one allowance disbursement since her husband’s demise.

She said, “My husband was a young man, a Corporal, that was killed by Boko Haram terrorists during an attack on the barracks where he worked.

“I now live with his parents, and I bore five kids, three females and two males for him until his demise. The children are aged 22, 20, 18, 15, and seven years old, and the two eldest, both girls, that are done with High School can’t afford going to the University because I can’t afford their school fees.

“I am pleading that the President, the Minister of Defence, and Nigerian citizens come to our aid. I and my five children are suffering and living in poverty because I can’t afford starting a business, and I have no job.”

The groups had in January this year picketed the ministries of finance and defence, as well as National Assembly, to press home their demands, Daily Trust reports.