Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
No fewer than 236 pensioners have died in Osun State in the last seven months as a result of inability of the state Government to pay their pension and gratuity, reports Radio Nigeria.
The State Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Mr Adesoji Adedire Stated this at a peaceful protest embarked upon by members of the Union to press home their demands.
The pensioners stormed the state house of Assembly in their numbers with placards carrying different inscriptions reading “pensioners are suffering” pay our pension” , “we can’t suffer anymore”, “stop deceiving us”, among others.
Speaking with newsmen, Elder Adesoji, said the protest became necessary since new administration at the centre had said that no state is owed monthly allocation in the country.
While lamenting the hardship being faced by his members for the past eight months, Elder Adesoji described the pension as their only source of income after retirement.
According to him, ’empty promises by Government and its insensitivity to the plight of pensioners have led to the untimely death of many of them.
Some of the protesters who shared their experience called on well-meaning Nigerians and the Federal Government to intervene in their interest.
While noting that life has not been easy for them, the pensioners maintained that most of them have been living on drugs for years which they said caused the untimely death of some of their members.
Addressing the protesters at the State House of Assembly, the deputy chief whip of the house, Mr Taiwo Adeyemi pleaded with them to exercise patience, assuring that the Governor would soon find a solution to the issue.
The protesters who are mostly elderly people from across the state later moved from the state Assembly to the popular Olaiya Junction causing traffic gridlock and preventing vehicular movements in the area for more than two hours.
