Retired Police Officers Block Road Leading to Aso Villa as They Continue Protesting Over Delayed Pension Payments

Retired Police Officers Block Road Leading to Aso Villa as They Continue Protesting Over Delayed Pension Payments

The demonstrators, operating under the aegis of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF), demanded that President Bola Tinubu immediately assent to the Police Exit Bill, which seeks to remove the Nigeria Police Force from the CPS, a system they have labelled as "fraudulent, illegal, inhumane, and obnoxious".

The protesters arrived at the vicinity of the Presidential Villa in the early hours of Monday, carrying placards with inscriptions such as "End CPS," "Police dey work, PenCom dey chop," and "Tinubu, sign our bill now". Many of the demonstrators, visibly elderly and frustrated, chanted solidarity songs and refused to be dispersed by security operatives deployed to the scene. In a dramatic escalation, some of the retirees laid on the road while others poured water on themselves and used cardboard as makeshift fans, gestures meant to express their frustration over years of unresolved grievances. Despite repeated attempts by armed police officers and personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) to persuade them to vacate the entrance, the retirees insisted that they would not leave until their demands were met.

The bill at the centre of the agitation was passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026. However, President Tinubu has yet to sign it into law, and the delay has fuelled growing anger among retired officers who argue that the CPS has subjected them to untold hardship. Speaking to journalists, the National Coordinator of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd), who led the protest, said the group's primary objective was to press for presidential assent to the bill. "Our major aim here is to prevail on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign our bill, the bill exiting the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme, passed by the National Assembly on 4th December 2025 and transmitted to him on 16th March 2026, into law, nothing more than that," he stated.

Irowainu lamented that while other security agencies had been removed from the scheme, police personnel remained trapped. "The soldiers have been exited, the SSS has been exited, the Air Force has been exited, the Navy has been exited, the National Intelligence Agency has been exited. The police, who are the father of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious Contributory Pension Scheme," he said. The retired officers argued that the CPS has been detrimental to their welfare, describing it as a "slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme". One retired officer, speaking emotionally, lamented the dire living conditions many have been subjected to under the scheme. "They have already killed us with this system. Mr President, the suffering is too much. Our children cannot go to school. There is no one to help us. We served this country for 35 good years, and at the end they gave us just NGN1 million and put us on a pension of NGN30,000. How do we survive?" he said.

This protest is not the first by retired police officers over the issue. In July 2025, retirees staged a similar demonstration at the National Assembly, demanding their removal from the scheme. At the time, Senate President Godswill Akpabio assured them that the Senate would immediately align with the House of Representatives, which had passed a bill to exempt the NPF from the CPS. Akpabio was quoted as saying the policy was "not well thought out" and had imposed unnecessary hardship on police personnel who risk their lives to secure the country. He also expressed confidence that President Tinubu, "being a listening president", would sign the legislation into law. However, months later, the bill remains unsigned, prompting the latest escalation.

The Contributory Pension Scheme, managed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), has long been a subject of controversy among retired police personnel, who argue that it does not adequately address the unique risks and service conditions faced by officers. The latest protest signals growing impatience among retired officers as they intensify pressure on the Federal Government to act on the Police Exit Bill, which they believe holds the key to addressing their long-standing pension challenges. For now, the elderly protesters remain at the gate of the Presidential Villa, vowing to stay until their voices are heard by the highest office in the land.