Retired military officers have told the the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (Retd) to pay their allowances or they will continue to occupy the defence headquarters.
The retired military officers, had on Monday paralyzed activities at the defence headquarters, protesting their unpaid entitlements.
They accused the authorities of failing to pay their Security Debarment Allowance, among others.
The aggrieved protesters, joined by some relatives of the deceased personnel, blocked access road to the Ministry located at Ship House on Olusegun Obasanjo Way in the Federal Capital Territory.
The military veterans under the aegis of the Retired Members of Nigerian Armed Forces and the Coalition of Concerned Veterans, accused the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (Retd) of deliberately holding on to their allowances.
Addressing reporters during the protest, spokesman of the CVV, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, vowed that they won’t leave the ministry’s entrance until their demands are met, insisting that they had already made arrangement to sleep overnight if the present situation warrants.
“We’re here alongside our wives and children, and the widows of late military personnel and veterans who died in service, some of whom died fighting Boko Haram terrorists. We’ll be sleeping over at this place until the Minister of Defence, Magashi accede to our demands,” he said.
On his part, the National Secretary of RMNAF, Roy Okhidievbie, wondered why the Minister had refused to disburse the allowances despite approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We have had meetings with the Defence Minister, Magashi, but he appears to be headstrong, heartless, and unperturbed concerning the grievances of retired military officers, as he never paid nor showed any interest or concern to pay these allowances, especially the Security Debarment Allowance.
“Interestingly, President Buhari-led administration has approved the payment of this allowance, but Magashi have refused to make disbursements,” Okhidievbie said.
Anna Nanven, whose husband, a Corporal, was killed by Boko Haram terrorists during an attack on a military barracks in Borno State, 2015, told our correspondent that she had only received one allowance disbursement since her husband’s demise.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Minister, Mohammed Abdulkadir, directed our correspondent to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ibrahim Kana.
However, several calls to the mobile phone of Mr Kana were yet to be answered, and he was yet to reply to a text message sent to him as at when filing this report.
