Plateau Retirees Protest Against Non Payment Of Backlog Gratuities, Pension

From Agabus Pwanagba, Jos

Over 250 retirees from the 17 Local Governments areas of Plateau State have staged protest against the non-payment of their entitlements, including gratuities and pension from October, 2011 to date.

The retirees who headed to the State House of Assembly turned out enmass, clad in black and lamented that every appeal made over the years to relevant authorities had fallen on deaf ears.

Speaking with journalists at the House of Assembly complex, the Coordinator of the retirees, Mamman Zi, said that government has been giving them flimsy excuses, yet have not been paid.

He said, “The excuses put forward by government is baseless; we have undergone the bio-metric capturing of retirees and concluded the process. Our files are with the Local Government Service Commission, yet nothing has been done.

“We are appealing and will continue to appeal to government to have mercy and pay us our entitlements”, stated Mamman Zi.

Some of them Zi revealed were sick, some died while some of them still alive he stressed have nothing or on one to fall back, maintaining that the retirees were protesting to benefit from their sweat.

In his address, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Titus Alams, said he understood the plight of the retirees.

He therefore advised them to remain calm and engage in further dialogue to find out why the delay has taken this long.

African Examiner could not reach the state’s Head of the Local Government Service Commission, Mrs. Susan Janfa, while the Permanent Secretary, Fabian Mpu, declined comment on the issue.