Cross River: Retired Police officers lament ordeal

• Demand Exemption From Pension Scheme

Retired police officers in Cross River State have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari. They also want an exemption of the Nigeria Police from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the country, as it is the case with other agencies. Moreover the police suffer the highest death toll of all the forces.

In a petition signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Peter Augustine (rtd), DSP Ofem Mbang (rtd) and 12 others, and made available to The Guardian in Calabar, yesterday, they said the pension scheme was “bedeviled with lots of fraudulent and corrupt activities, delay in processing of notice of retirement, reduction and delay in the payment of insurance benefits to retirees and others hence, the payment of police gratuity and pension should be transferred to Federal Government Transitional Arrangements Directorate for the Federal Government to take full responsibility.”

While in the process of opting out, they demande , at least, 50 percent of the total amount credited to their retirement savings to enable them resettle themselves within one month of retirement and current 25 percent payment should be optional.

“The so-called Retirement Resettlement Grant, which NPF Pension Ltd claims to give to retirees is a trap because no beneficiary will be allowed to migrate to annuity which is the right of the retiree and is paid collectively based on lobbying” they alleged.

The protesting retirees disassociated themselves from recent report credited to the Commissioner of Police Legal, Force Headquarters that “the police is comfortable with the contributory pension scheme” and called on President Buhari to investigate “the activities of the NPF Ltd and police authorities with regards to FOKAS shares, unpaid promotion arrears, prompt processing of retirement letters and accurate and prompt payment of insurance.”