Members of the Ex-Service Men and Families Welfare Association of Nigeria staged a protest on Wednesday at the Federal Ministry of Finance, urging the government to pay long-overdue benefits allegedly withheld for years.
President of the Association, Anthony Abbas, appealed to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to expedite the payment of the Security Disbarment Allowance, which has reportedly been owed since 2011.
The allowance is calculated as 10 per cent of a retiree’s annual basic salary at the time of retirement, multiplied by the number of years served.
Abbas stated, “Our request and pleas to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy are as follows:
“Payment of our palliatives and its arrears from October 2023 to November 2024, payment of 20 percent to 28 percent salary increment and its arrears from January to November 2024, payment of N32,000 only, payment and its arrears from July to November 2024, payment of the new national minimum wage increment and the arrears from July to November 2024.
“We, the military veterans, are patriotic citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We love this country more than any other group of people.
“It was our effort during the Nigerian Civil War that helped this country not to break up,” Abbas emphasized.
He highlighted the sacrifices made by the retired servicemen, stating, “The resilience and doggedness of the retired servicemen ensured that terrorists did not hijack the FCT (Abuja) and some of the state capitals in the northeastern and northwestern parts of Nigeria. Some of our colleagues lost their lives in trying to achieve this.”