Members of the Nigerian Port Authority Pensioners and Welfare Association (NPAPWA) on Monday staged a protest at the headquarters of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Marina, Lagos, over the delay in the review of their pensions under the new pension scheme.

The pensioners, who gathered at the NPA head office, carried placards with inscriptions such as, “Nigeria Port Authority is owing its pensioners 16 years’ constitutional benefits,” “President Bola Tinubu, save our souls. NPA pensioners are dying daily; we need your intervention,” and “My pension is N30,000 per month, save my soul.”

Some protesters also displayed placards bearing the message, “Dantsoho!! Allah Ya Yisha NPA” (God will judge you), while a 69-year-old woman was seen crying during the demonstration.

Speaking during the protest, President of NPAPWA, Charles Binitie, said the association had earlier suspended a planned protest after receiving assurances that efforts were being made to address their grievances.

“We suspended it because we got sufficient information that something is being done. But what we are asking for is for the management to address us. In any relationship, there must be dialogue. You cannot work on our behalf in silence,” he said.

Binitie accused the authority of failing to review pensioners’ benefits despite salary increases for serving staff over the past 16 years.

“We are witnessing 16 years of constitutional denial of our rights. Sixteen years ago, they reviewed their own salaries and refused to adjust those of pensioners, creating a widening gap,” he stated.

According to him, pensioners under the scheme still receive as low as N30,000 monthly despite rising living costs and inflation.

“When the new pension Act was implemented, they increased their own benefits but did not touch anything for the pensioners. There has been no increment, no review, and that is what we are demanding,” he added.

The association warned that the protest could spread across the country if their demands were not met before mid-June.

“Our protest is nationwide. The next protest will be larger and more aggressive, involving units in Lagos, Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt if our demands are not met,” Binitie said.

Some of the retirees, who spoke amid tears, described the economic hardship they had endured since retirement.

A former NPA worker, James Igwe, who joined the agency in 1977, said many pensioners were now sick, homeless and unable to cater for their families.

“I am still receiving N30,000. Many of us are now sick, paralysed and homeless. Some are sleeping in churches because we cannot pay rent. Our children are out of school, and many families have been scattered because of lack of money,” he lamented.

Another pensioner, identified simply as Otaro, said he retired in 2006 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and had struggled to survive since then.

“Sometimes I spend three days without eating. How am I going to train my children? Where is the money to train my children?” he asked. (The Nation)