Aggrieved retired police officers on Monday stormed the streets of Abuja, demanding their exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme and calling for urgent reforms to improve the welfare of both serving and retired personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
The protesters, who marched under the banner of the Nigerian Union of Retired Police Officers, were joined by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore as they converged at the Force Headquarters before proceeding to the National Assembly.
Initially denied access into the Force Headquarters, the demonstrators were later escorted by officers as they made their way to the legislative complex, chanting solidarity songs and waving placards with inscriptions such as “Decent Salaries Now,” “End Police Slavery,” “Pensions for Police Officers,” “Dignity for Those in Uniform,” and “CPS is a death sentence.”
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They maintained that the current pension structure under the Contributory Pension Scheme is not only unjust but dehumanising.
“This system is a trap; it is modern-day slavery for officers who spent their lives serving this nation,” one of the retired officers said.
Another protester added, “We gave our youth to the police. Now that we are old, we are abandoned with nothing to fall back on. The government must act now.”
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The retired officers had earlier vowed to picket the National Assembly in a renewed push for legislative intervention in what they described as a prolonged neglect of their welfare.
