A group of protesting retired soldiers on Monday shut down the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja over non-payment of their gratuity, Security Debarment Allowance (SDA), and other entitlements.
The protest, which began at about 7 a.m., left the Finance Ministry workers stranded for hours, as they were unable to access their offices as the aggrieved ex-servicemen, comprising men and women, demanded the immediate release of their outstanding allowances.
The angry protesters carried placards with messages such as: “We are 1st and 2nd Quarter Retirees of NA 2003. We are living heroes and deserve to be recognized and treated right—not celebrated as fallen heroes when we are no more,” and “We the voluntary discharged soldiers of 2024 demand full payment of our benefits, including shortfalls in gratuity, SDA, parking allowance and four months’ salary cuts.”
They claimed to be members of Voluntary Discharged Soldiers, who retired from the Nigerian Army in the first two quarters of 2024.
The angry protesters barricaded the main gate of the Ministry and prevented the staff and management of the Ministry from gaining access to their offices.
The ex-soldiers insisted on the immediate payment of their gratuities, unpaid salaries, pension and wage award palliative, while threatening to occupy the Ministry until their demands were met.
Many of the protesters appeared in military camouflage, chanting solidarity songs and holding placards that bore messages, expressing their frustration over what they termed “long period of neglect after serving the nation.”
One of the protesters, who gave his name as Sergeant Idris Usman told journalists: “Our disengagement was done formally through the system, yet they’re now telling us we’re not entitled to minimum wage adjustments or palliatives because we left in July.”
The ex-soldiers claimed that after jeopardising their lives for the nation, all they received was abandonment and that they had been patient enough for the Federal Government.
According to another protesters, Corporal Umar Faruq (rtd), a key grievance is the MPB’s alleged claim that they are not entitled to the new national minimum wage because they were discharged on July 1, 2024.
Chairman of the Military Pensions Board, MPB, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Adamu, and several other senior military officers tried to persuade the protesters but the appeals fell on deaf ears.
Later, top officials of the Ministry of Finance arrived the gate to invite representatives of the retirees, along with the MPB Chairman, to a closed-door meeting to address their concerns.
There was no official statement by either the Finance Ministry or the Military Pension Board at the end of the meeting, but it was gathered that the government officials appealed to the ex-soldiers to give some time to liaise with the board in order to find a solution to their grievances.
Meanwhile, addressing journalists on Monday after the meeting with the government’s officials, one of the protest leaders, who identified herself as Mama G, said they would wait until the end of the week before taking further action.
“They promised to pay us by Friday. We are giving them the benefit of the doubt. If we don’t get our alerts, we will reinforce massively here,” she said.
Mama G, a retired Sergeant, lamented the amount paid to her after 20 years of service, describing it as inadequate.
“I am sad. After 20 years wasting my youthful age, they paid me N3.7m. I don’t know what I will use that kind of money for in this country at this time. Let the government help us collect our full rights and entitlements,” she said.
Another protester, retired Corporal Moses Eze, said the protest had been suspended.
He said the protest was to demand their legitimate entitlements and avoid resorting to desperate measures.
Eze added that over 700 personnel were yet to receive their payments from the first to fourth quarters, and they had been patient for a year.
He said, “The reason for this is that we don’t want to commit an atrocity in the country, we just want the Federal Government to do the needful, to pay us what belongs to us.
“We are not asking extra, we are asking what we know that is fully entitlement, that is why you see that you gathered here, we have a first, second, third quarters, which are yet to paint, and they assure us that from now until Friday, at worst Monday, that all the necessary entitlement will be paid.
“Failure to do so, coming back here, we are not going to take it lightly, we might not even come here, we might go to another length, which the government will not be happy with.
“We are retired professionals who can handle any type of gun. Let me say, first and second quarters are 400, third and fourth are 300, which is 700, and the Nigerian Army know fully well that they are with our money.”
He asked that the right thing be done.
Also speaking, retired Sergeant Abdul Rasheed Isiaka said many of them were discharged in 2023 with disengagement dates reading February 2024, but were only paid half their gratuities.
“We are demanding our full payment of gratuity now. There is also an SDA allowance and a parking allowance, which have not been paid. Our salaries were stopped just three months after terminal leave,” he said.
Isiaka noted that several letters had been written to the Defence Headquarters, the Ministry of Finance, and other relevant offices, warning that they would stage a protest if payments were not made by August 4, 2024.
Written with reports from Vanguard, The PUNCH
