National President of National Association of
Military Pensioners, Benson Eromafuru, yesterday, gave the Federal Government,
till May 6, to pay the pension arrears of its members, those of the police and
their civilian counterparts.
Eromafuru, in a statement in Warri, Delta State,
insisted that the Federal Government had no more excuses to give for its
failure to pay the pension arrears, as the ex-service men were now set to
confront government over the matter.
He said the defence by the Chairman, Military
Pensions Board, Commodore Simeon Audu, that the pension of the military
pensioners was not captured in the 2013 budget was not tenable and therefore,
unacceptable as they have been promising to pay over the last four years. He
added that they had confirmed that the said pension was captured in the 2013
budget.
Eromafuru, at the end of a meeting of members of the
association in conjunction with ex-policemen and their civilian counterparts in
service in Warri, said it was resolved that a nationwide protest was
unavoidable.
He noted that the 21-day ultimatum given for the
payment of their pension arrears expires on Monday, May 6, and that nothing
would stop them from embarking on violent protest if the arrears were not paid.
He wondered why the Federal Government would pay
ex-militants their stipends of N60, 000 monthly, while the same government was
toying with the lives of those who fought for the unity of the country.
Erumafuru urged President Goodluck Jonathan to
urgently intervene and save the impending violent protest, adding that
arrangement had been concluded to ensure that the country’s economy was
grounded, if the pensioners were not paid.
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