A group of retired Nigerian soldiers staged a protest on Thursday, blocking the main entrance to the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.
The former servicemen were demonstrating against the alleged delay in releasing funds to the Military Pensions Board (MPB), which has prevented the payment of their outstanding entitlements.
The protesters explained that their action was a direct result of the ministry’s failure to honour a previous commitment.
According to the veterans, officials from the Ministries of Finance and Defence had given them assurances during a meeting on August 4th that their backlog of payments would be cleared by August 10th. Based on that promise, they had suspended an earlier planned protest.
However, with the deadline passing without payment, they felt compelled to return to the streets.
One of the protesters, identified as Mama G, spoke to journalists at the scene. She expressed the group’s frustration, stating that the government’s promises had not been fulfilled, leaving them with no alternative but to resume their demonstration. She also warned that this renewed protest would be even larger in scale.
This event is the latest in a series of similar protests held by senior citizens in recent years. Retired soldiers have repeatedly gathered in Abuja and other cities to voice their grievances over significant delays in receiving their pensions and to accuse authorities of neglect. At the time of reporting, the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Headquarters, and the Military Pensions Board had not issued any official response to the ongoing protest.
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cc: Daily Post NG
