Imo retirees protest non-payment of arrears

OWERRI—It was a tale of woes for Imo pensioners that thronged their various pay points yesterday, to pick their cheques, as promised by Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Vanguard, who closely monitored the exercise in parts of the state, noticed that despite the media hype that trailed the payment, only the pension of

August was paid, while government totally left the previous months.

One of the pensioners, who simply identified himself as Obi lamented that “some of my colleagues disappointingly went home with less than N3,000, representing 70 percent of what government has been paying in the state”.

Similarly, a pensioner from Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, gave a graphic account of what he and his colleagues have been passing through since they retired from the institution.

“We retired from this noble institution before it was taken over by the Federal Government. Our plight worsened since Governor Rochas Okorocha came on board.” the man lamented.

A frail female retiree told Newsmen  at Umuneke, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area, lamented that “from what we have seen today, I will not be surprised if government comes out tomorrow to announce that it has cleared the backlog of pensions in the state.”

Reports from some other pay points revealed that the names of some pensioners were glaringly missing from the payroll, even as no explanation was proffered as to why the pensioners couldn’t find their names.

At Owerri Municipal Council Headquarters, an elderly man that retired from Imo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC, barely managed to hold back tears, as he tried to tell his story.

“I spent the better part of my life serving my state. Can you imagine that I am going home with a little above N3,000? Where do I go from here? I spent about N400 for my transport to this place and will definitely go back home. The balance is what I am expected to feed on, until government decide to pay again”, the retiree said.

The crowd at one of the new generation banks along Douglas Road, Owerri, could not allow us get close to the counter, to ascertain if the cheques were being honoured or not, before press time.

DROP YOUR COMMENTS BELOW