About 200 retired soldiers who fought for the Nigerian Government during the Nigeria-Biafran War, on Wednesday, May 11, organized a protest noting their anger over the 44 Years of unpaid Pensions.
Among them were aged men and women holding placards with different captions to demonstrate their griefs. They called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to look into their case.
They began their uproar from the Nigerian Legion Secretariat in Ibadan through Yidi Gate, the NTA area, singing as they moved.
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The National Coordinator, Pa Babawande Philips, operating under the umbrella of the First Intake Able Voluntary Retired Or Discharged Ten Or More Years in Military Service, addressed journalists and explained that it was ungodly to have paid former Biafran soldiers and not those of them who fought on the side of Nigeria.
He added that the ex-military men served directly under Buhari when he was in the military, saying he was sure that their former boss was not aware of their plights.
He said;
“We have been denied our pensions for the past 44 years and we have done everything to make them pay us but to no avail.
We have been to court and they asked us to drop the case. They called us for biometrics but to now say they will not pay us because we didn’t spend 15 years in the army is wicked.
There is a memo of 1977 by the military government that those who spent 10 years and above should be paid pensions. If they are not aware of this, they should search for the memo.”
Joseph Popoola, the secretary of the association, said many of the members had died.
He begged Buhari to intervene in their case so that they could be paid.
