Some aggrieved retired military personnel have threatened to embark on a nationwide protest over the delay in the payment of their security debarment allowance, Punch reports.
They also vowed to ground activities at the Ministry of Defence in Abuja if their demands were not met by the end of August.
The retirees, under the aegis of Coalition for Concerned Veterans, had embarked on a series of protests in various states to demand payment of their 24 months arrears of approved minimum wage and debarment allowance, among others.
But of note was the protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on January 5, 2022 by some of the retirees across various states.
They vowed to picket the Ministries of Finance and Defence on January 15, a day set aside to mark the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, if their demands were not met.
After the protest, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd.), on January 9, 2022, begged the ex-servicemen to sheathe their sword, stressing that their protest was sending a wrong signal to the international community.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that three tranches of the minimum wage had been paid to the ex-servicemen by the Military Pension Board with arrangement for the final trench being worked on.
However, the security debarment allowance, an allowance meant to dissuade the retired military personnel from using the skills they acquired while in service against the country, has not been paid to them.
This is despite that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Kana, had in May, claimed that money for the payment of the allowance had been approved by the President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking on Friday, the group’s spokesperson, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, accused the ministry of treating their members with disdain.
“We are giving the ministry till the end of August to commence payment for our members after which we will come out and ground activities at the ministry till we are paid,” he declared.
Durowaiye-Herberts wondered why the ministry wanted to embark on a verification exercise after claiming the money had been approved by the President.
He added, “We have endured a lot of humiliation with the hope that our allowance will be paid. We have been on this issue since January. How can a minister invite the leadership of the group to a meeting with no adequate provision? We were stranded afterwards. He did not give us any regard. How can we have a minister, who is one of us, threat us in such manner?
“If we come out this time around, it would be more massive than what we did earlier. The minister, despite being one of us, has shown no empathy with us. We were told the money has been approved by the President and they are trying to deploy means to delay the payment by telling us that we would have to do verification before getting our money.
“The questions begging for answer are: If a proposal was forwarded to the President for veterans that were hitherto excluded from payment of SDA and approval was subsequently granted with financial commitment, it would mean that a total strength of would-be beneficiaries were already determined without verification. What then is the basis for further verification?
“Also, if the minimum wage, which is at its third tranche of payment, has continued to be paid to ‘qualified’ veterans without recourse to verification, why is verification now necessary before payment of SDA?
“If veterans, both living and dead, are qualified to be paid, what informs the need for verification? If the government/Ministry of Defence suspects the existence of ghost pensioners since 2015, why wait until now to verify veterans?
“If fresh veterans are being paid their SDA within a short time after disengagement from active service, why extend our payment over a period of three to five years?”
Durowaiye-Herberts said the delay was casting doubt on the sincerity of the relevant authorities.
Several calls made to Kana’s mobile number were not answered. Also, he has yet to respond to a message sent to him on the matter.
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