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By Yusuf Salihu Sansani, Jalingo
Pensioners in Taraba State have staged a massive protest to press home their demands for the settlement of all their entitlements.
The pensioners who trouped to the Government House and the Taraba State House of Assembly amidst tied security are demanding for the, enrollment of over one thousand Local Government retirees who are yet to be captured for pension five to ten years after their retirement many of them died in silence, others suffering from various ailments, some throwned out of their rented houses and their children sent out of school and generally they do not have the wherewithal to fend for their families, payment of gratuity which stopped in 2010 with a backlog of over N30 billion, implementation of the 33% pension increase which was approved by the Federal Government since 2011 and implemented in most states of the country but not implented in Taraba State, implementation of consequential adjustment in pension arising from the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage in 2019 among others.
They carried placards with various inscriptions such as We tired of lies, false promises and lip services of the Taraba State Government, Darius pay us all our entitlements and chanting Darius pay us all our pension and gratuities with some of them referring to the Governor as a virus while others called him as Daro.
The pensioners who were blocked from entering the Government House insisted that they must present a letter containing all their grievances addressed to the Governor which security operatives at the Government House after a heated argument allowed the State Chairman and the Secretary access and presented the letter to the Secret Registry of the Government House because all senior officials who supposed to receive the letter on behalf of the Governor were absent. Addressing the pensioners, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Taraba State Council, Comrade Kefas Katan said they decided to stage the peaceful demonstration as the last resort because they tried all avenues to make the state Governor to understand their plighs but all the efforts proved abortive that is why they moblized only members of the State Council which is the highest ruling body of the Union in the State comprisingy members of the State Executive Council and Chairmen and Secretaries of all the branches in the sixteen Local Governments of the State for the protest as their retirement which supposed to be sweet after service turned sour.
Comrade Kefas Katan warned that if the State Government fails to take any tangible measures to address all their problems all pensioners in Taraba State including members of their families who are feeling the brunt of the nonchalant attitude of the Government towards pensioners will converge in Jalingo the State Capital for a gargantous protest whereby they will not leave the Government House, the State House of Assembly who always approved loans for the Governor and all thef major streets o Jalingo come rain come sun until all their entitlements are settled.
He called on pensioners in the State to remained calm and wait for the next line of action by the State NUP which is not resting in its oars on the struggling for the welfare of all pensioners in Taraba State. The pensioners also presented the Same letter for the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly whose members were all absent at the time of the visit of the Pensioners.
