1967 Retired Soldiers Request Pension From President

Retired soldiers who fought on the side of the Nigerian government during the 1967 to 1970 Civil War, have asked President Bola Tinubu to see to the payment of their pension.

The soldiers said they had yet to be placed on the military pension roll, after over 40 years.This was contained in a letter titled: “Letter of passionate appeal to have the first intake of 10 years and above that fought in the civil war to be placed on the pension roll of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” signed by the Coordinator of the Civil War Veterans, Babawande Phillip, and Secretary, Okewuyi Bayo, and addressed to the President.

According to the letter, the ex-policemen and soldiers who fought on the Biafran side had been enrolled and were collecting their pensions from the government.

The group urged President Tinubu to urgently intervene, adding that many of them were living in abject poverty.It read: “On behalf of the ex-soldiers, especially the 63NA intake that fought in the Civil War to keep Nigeria united, we write to Your Excellency to inform you about our predicament.

‘’Over 40 years after the civil war, many of us have not enjoyed the benefit of being placed on the Military Pension Roll talk less of being paid our pension. We have aired our grievances through different mediums but to no avail.

“Meanwhile, ex-Biafran soldiers and policemen have been considered and enrolled as monthly pensioners by the Federal Government under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. We, the federal troops, were however left behind.

“Our appeal was considered in November 2015 and we were directed to do a verification exercise by the Military Pensions Board. We were verified and certified as genuine pensioners, but surprisingly, to date, we have not received any pension. A copy of the Verification Certificate is herein attached and marked Annexure F.”

“Your Excellency sir, we are living in abject poverty, our daily sustenance has been at the mercy of the public, and our life is fast ebbing away. The future appears bleak and uncertain for us at our age, untold hardship toil on us because we do not have anything to fall back on or to hold onto.

“We heartily plead with you to please use your good office to ameliorate our plight by having us placed on the Monthly Pension Roll of retired Military personnel,” the letter added.