A retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), John Madaki, has called for the immediate removal of police retirees from the Contributory Pension Scheme, which he described as a “death sentence” for officers who served the country with dedication.

Madaki, who retired on July 1, 2009, after 35 years of service, said the scheme has not only impoverished retired officers but also contributed to the deaths of hundreds due to neglect, poor medical care, and emotional distress.

“That scheme is killing us. As of December 2024, about 526 retired officers had died many from depression, lack of care, and the hardship caused by poor pensions. More have died this year alone, but I don’t even have the full figures,” he said in an interview.

He lamented that despite dedicating his entire adult life to the Nigerian Police Force, he now lives in poverty, receiving only N61,000 monthly as pension.

“I joined the police at 17 or 18 in 1974 and gave the best part of my life to serving this nation. Yet today, I can’t afford decent food or pay my children’s school fees.”

Madaki, who also earned a law degree while in service told Daily Trust that many retired officers have been reduced to beggars.

“It’s a daily struggle. Some of us go out to beg. Retired officers troop into my office just to ask for N1,500 to buy medicine. Some are earning as low as N18,000 monthly.”

He described the pension disparity between military and police retirees as unjust.

“My counterparts in the military receive between N250,000 and N300,000 monthly, while some retired Commissioners of Police earn just N69,000. It’s shameful.”

Madaki, who is one of the leaders of Retired Police officers Association in Kaduna, appealed to the government to urgently create a separate Police Pension Board, similar to what exists for the military.

“Let our pension be managed by a dedicated Police Pension Board. PENCOM is eating our money while junior officers there collect over N1 million monthly from the same funds that should be ours.”

“We served and protected this country under rain and sun, and now we’re left to suffer. The government used us in our prime and abandoned us in our old age.

“Scrap the Contributory Pension Scheme for the police. It has become a death sentence for those who gave everything to Nigeria,” he said. (Daily Trust)