The Rivers state government has added salt to injury by creating a situation where civil servants in the pension office are demanding money to identify and process files of retirees in-spite of not paying them their pensions and gratuities for a long time.
Reacting to this development, the Chancellor, International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights. ISSJHR, Dr. Omenazu Jackson, said the report reaching him on the situation was disturbing and wondered why the retirees would be treated without feelings and sympathy, considering what they were going through.
He said some had died and that some were in critical health conditions.
He, therefore, called on the Rivers state government to act immediately against those civil servants extorting money from the retirees or be accused of masterminding it
His words; “Retired civil servants are paying bribe to colleagues in service to get their pension files processed. A retired headmaster who retired since 2016 without a kobo as pension nearly slumbered at the state secreteriate today in a quest to process his file”.
“He had to send for his son from home who came to assist him.
Even when he was referred to Primary School Board at Elechi beach, his problem increased as his serving colleagues demanded bribe from him to send his file to the accounts for payment”.
“The old fragile man had to cough out N3,000 to enable them send the file out. Bitter as this may sound, it was the old man’s son who went into the dusty room where the files are kept searching for his father’s file”.
“When he eventually found it, yet the stone hearted colleagues of his father bluntly told him that the bribe they demand is for them and accounts department otherwise the file won’t be processed”.
“We are in a state/country where morality is on board a supersonic jet flying to unknown. How can such aged man who serve his state meritorously for 36 years pass through such an agonizing situation before getting his pension”.
“There are many that never touched nor enjoyed their hard labour for 36 years before death came calling. They died in agony while those who serve the state for mere 8 years go home with hundreds of millions of naira and exotic cars and luxury houses in GRA”.
“The pensioners are humans and deserve all respect. They are our fathers and mothers. Some of them taught the present generation of politicians whose heartless approach to governance has brought this pains to our aged pensioners”.
“The Pension board should be up to her responsibility to the citizens. The right procedure should be adopted. Pensioners’ documentation should be done while they are 12 months to their exit from service. There is no big deal about it. These people records are already within the system all these years while they are active in service, how come when they retire they are subjected to excruciating documentation process that may take 4 to 5 years to complete. This is human and gross economic rights violations”.
“The pension process in our state is becoming a journey to Golgotha which should be discouraged. We must not inadventently encourage young people to desert the civil service because of poor handling of pension issues”.
All excuses about biometrics and other hindrances affecting smooth and early payment of pension are man made and heartless. Retrogrades within the system encourage it as if they are stones that won’t get weak some day in life. We must put a stop to these systematic killing of our pensioners now”, Jackson stated.
