Non-passage of Police Pension Bill killing us, retirees lament

• Say 300 died in 2023 page

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Worried by alleged delay in passing of the Police Pension Bill by the National Assembly, the Association of Retired Police Officers (ARPO), Kaduna state chapter, has raised the alarm over the increasing death rate among its members.

Making this point, the association’s chairman, CSP Mannir Lawal Zaria, said over 300 retirees have died, as a result of poverty and sickness in the past year.

Speaking in a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, Zaria called on the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to come to the rescue of the police retirees by ensuring the prompt passage of the pension bill to halt the present attrition rate among the pensioners.

“The retirees who have died now numbers over 300, from 2023 to date, in Kaduna.

“We have lost so many retired policemen in the state. People are dying now because of poverty and disease,” he lamented.

According to him, this is the only country where police retirees are left alone to suffer after leaving service and die.

“In other countries, retirees are placed on reserve during emergencies.”