Thousands of pensioners in Imo State on Tuesday took to the streets of Owerri, the state capital, to protest over four months pension arrears dating from February 2020.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that the Imo retirees, led by the chairman of Imo Pension Intervention Committee IPIC, Iyke Ohanaeji, threatened a mother of all protest if the government failed to hear their voices.
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He cried, “We have been going hungry and many are dying. No money to feed our families, yet, the government seems not to bother.
“We shall embark on a mother of all protest if the government fails to pay us. Enough is enough!”
Addressing the protesting pensioners, the Secretary to the State Government, Cosmas Iwu, appealed that they exercise patience, disclosing that the delay was as a result of the falsification of BVN by ghost pensioners captured in the verification exercise.
He promised that the government will pay them by the weekend.
Africa Daily News, New York observed that the protesters wore black attires and displayed placards with inscriptions such as, ‘what offense did the retirees commit’, ‘we demand our pension’, ‘the BVN system is a ploy to steal our money’, and so on.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
