Dozens of retired military personnel on Monday barricaded the main entrance of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, protesting the non-payment of their entitlements, including gratuities, Security Debarment Allowance (SDA), parking allowance, and salary shortfalls.
The protest, which began around 7 a.m., disrupted activities at the ministry, leaving staff stranded outside for hours as the ex-servicemen—both male and female—demanded immediate settlement of their outstanding benefits.
Carrying placards with messages such as “We are 1st and 2nd Quarter Retirees of NA 2003. We are living heroes and deserve to be recognized and treated right—not celebrated as fallen heroes when we are no more,” and “We the voluntarily discharged soldiers of 2024 demand full payment of our benefits, including shortfalls in gratuity, SDA, parking allowance, and four months’ salary cuts,” the retirees expressed frustration over what they described as neglect and injustice.
Efforts to calm the situation by the Chairman of the Military Pensions Board (MPB), Air Vice Marshal Adamu, were unsuccessful, as the retirees insisted they would not back down without firm commitments.
Shortly after, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, accompanied by other senior officials, arrived at the scene and invited selected representatives of the protesters and the MPB Chairman for a closed-door meeting to address the grievances.
As of the time of filing this report, the meeting was still ongoing.
One of the protesters, Corporal Umar Faruq (rtd.), an engineer, revealed that a major point of contention is the Military Pensions Board’s reported claim that retirees discharged on July 1, 2024, are not eligible for the new national minimum wage.
Another aggrieved retiree declared, “We will not leave this place until the MPB Chairman comes out and tells us himself that the funds have been released and alerts are already being sent.”
