Police retirees decry poor treatment, seeks IGP aid

Retired Police Officers under Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) have reacted to what it termed as, “propaganda aimed at image laundering by the Nigeria Police Force, NPF Pensions Limited and the pension Commission,” as published in the Nation newspaper and social media.

In a release signed by 16 of its states’ Chapter Chairmen and four others, entitled, “Retired Police Officers under Contributory Pension Scheme applauded no one,” and made available to journalists in Calabar, Monday, the group noted that Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has denied police retirees of periodic increment of their monthly pension.

The group lamented that, the DIG ‘A’ Department who is supposed to preside over a joint Committee set up by the Inspector General of Police to draft a proposed Bill for an amendment of the Pension Act 2014’ is not available to convene the joint meeting because he is currently on Zonal tour with NPF Pensions Ltd Personnel to market their business for personal gains to the detriment of Police Retirees.

The group therefore appealed to the IGP to order the DIG A to discontinue the zonal tour and focus on drafting the proposed Bill as soon as possible, for presentation to the National Assembly which will facilitate the exit of Policemen from the Cintributory Pension Scheme (CPS). The group explained that the recently announced consequential adjustment of pension allowance by the federal government in line with section 173(3) of the constitution of the federal government of Nigeria as amended, did not include police retirees under CPS, adding that they go to the same market with the others and their children attend the same school with the children of the others. It maintained that, “no police retiree under CPS who has been exposed to the highest level of frustration and abandonment after suffering to keep the peace of this nation, will ever applaud those who have seized their terminal benefits to run a private profit making business in which the owners of the money (police retirees) are not stakeholders.” Describing the crowd shown in the publication and the clip which NPF Pensions Limited is relying on as “hired crowd induced by cash and souvenirs to sit and pose as retired officers,” the group said, “it is unthinkable that police officers who enlisted into the force under Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) and had served this nation up to pensionable years before the introduction of CPS could be coerced into a system that has robbed them of their entitlements. ”The group wondered why “Service Chiefs in other Agencies and the leadership of other organisations are working to better the living standard of their serving and retired personnel, while the police leadership is conspiring with the NPF Pensions Limited to cheat police retirees.”

It maintained that, “the approval of 2.5 percent by the President is not a favour done to anybody as it is the entitlement of the employee that is due the employee following the review of employer and the employee rate of contribution,” adding that, “the propaganda of 300 percent special gratuity for retired police officers awaiting the President’s approval is too old a story to be repeated after four years.” The group also frowned at the denial of the 300 percent annual basic salary and the 80 percent monthly basic salary as gratuity and monthly pension on retirement, reasoning that, “the gratuity has been replaced with what is described as lump sum which is far below 25 percent of annual salary of a retiree after 35 years of meritorious service and a monthly pension of what is less than 20 percent of the last monthly basic salary of the retiree.” It added that the development was painful as “other military and intelligence community personnel who are not contributing to their retirement benefits are paid 300 percent of their annual salary and 80 percent of their last monthly salary as their gratuity and pension respectively.” It reminded the IGP that the group still await his invitation to the joint meeting of the DIG “A”, the police retirees and other stakeholders towards the implementation of the outcome from the senate investigative hearing of the petition and him not to give those it termed as “frustrated,” police retirees the cause to come back to Abuja for another peaceful protest.