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Elderly man faints during protest of pensioners unpaid arrears in Edo
A senior citizen slumped in Benin City, Edo State during mass protest by pensioners in the state on Monday, demanding the payment of their unpaid pensions and gratuities by Governor Godwin Obaseki.
The protesting pensioners obstructed traffic, causing light delays at Ring Road, Benin City, expressing their griefs.
The protesters who included retired men and women from the Edo State civil service, displayed various placards with inscriptions – “Governor Obaseki, please pay us our gratuity”.
“All we are saying, pay us our gratuity”; “Pensioners need gratuity to take care of our health and family” etc.
While the mass protest was going on, an elderly man in their midst suddenly slumped, and was urgently rushed to a hospital in the vicinity.
The protesting pensioners noted, however, that the unpaid pensions and gratuities accumulated from the administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
The pensioners also argued that “The Constitution says whenever there is salary increase, pensioners’ pension should also be increased by the same percentage but nothing is being said and nothing is being done
The senior citizens decried that “Worst still, ‘Comrade Governor’ Oshiomhole, a union man who ought to have corrected these ills, did not do it.”
The pensioners also accused Governor Obaseki of going behind with some union members to deduct one percent fund from their pension as union dues.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Crusoe Osagie, however, refuted that the state government is owing the pensioners.
According to Crusoe: “There is supposed to be a statutory one percent deduction which they have not ironed out among themselves yet, so, that is what is causing this crisis.
“The state government is caught in a cross-fire of disagreements within pension unions in the state. Whatever happened today with pensioners’ protest didn’t have anything to do with protests being owed because this state government does not owe a penny.”
The pensioners, however, insisted that they are owed arrears by the state government.