Aggrieved retirees of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) under the aegis of Coalition for Concerned Veterans (CCV) have announced the lifting of the ban on protests and the beginning of picketing and barricade of military formations to show their grievances over the continued delay in the payment of their Security Debarment Allowance (SDA).
The veterans said it is “disgusting that a newly elected member of the Nigerian parliament is being given an SUV worth over a hundred million as a welcome gift as against a Military Veteran who served 35 years and still begging to be paid his SDA.”
Stating that they can no more accept the lame excuse that “there’s no money and the economy is bad,” the military retirees said “if the economy is going to sink the country, let us all sink together.”
Spokesperson of the veterans, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, said “our protest will run under the Hashtag #Let the Veterans Breathe.”
In September last year, then Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, and then Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, brokered peace with the veterans protesting over issues on the same Security Debarment Allowance, leading to the end of a two-day barricade into the Ministry of Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
They had accused the then Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd), of being insensitive to their plight.
“It is worthy of note that one of the first thing we did when the Ministers were sworn in, was to extend an olive branch in written letters, (twice) to both HMoD/HMoSD, as a diplomatic move, but it would appear some interest within are constituting themselves as clogs in the wheel of progress and by so doing, they have given the Ministers many reasons why we are not relevant and not to be listened to. But we will prove them wrong.
“If they won’t dialogue with us in a mutual way, then, we certainly will get their attention on the street and the time to act is now! We cannot sit back and watch our sensibility being toyed with.
“Isn’t it disgusting that a newly elected member of the Nigerian parliament, is been given an SUV worth over a hundred million as a welcome gift, as against a Military Veteran who served 35 years and still begging to be paid his SDA? Then, someone somewhere will want to convince us that there’s no money and the economy is bad! Why is it always bad when it comes to our turn? We can’t continue like this.
“The bugle is about to be blown! That’s the language they always want to hear. New and reasonable template and payment at once or twice! Disparity in pension and others. This is non-negotiable! If the economy is going to sink the country, let us all sink together.
“Our protest will run under the Hashtag #Let the Veterans Breathe.”