Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), met with resentful retired members of the Nigeria Police Force and pledged to help them with their Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) issues. Speaking to the retired officers who demonstrated at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the IGP acknowledged their plight and stated that serving officers and retired personnel alike were also concerned about the issue of inadequate retirement benefits.
“We all feel concerned,” said Egbetokun, who claimed to have been interacting with the government on the issue.
“We empathise with you because we are also going to retire. I have been engaging at the highest level to ensure that something is done to improve the condition of the poor pensioner.”
He informed the demonstrators that he had just returned from a meeting with Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, during which the topic of retired police officers’ welfare was also covered.
“Even right now, I was just coming from a meeting with the NSA. The subject matter is the poor pension of retired officers. There are things that we need to make to ensure that your suffering in retirement are alleviated .
“There are a number of things that we have done, steps that I have been taking, the details of which I would not like to disclose with the press present. But I just want to assure you that we empathise with you and we are not just folding our arms. We are doing a lot to ensure that something is done.” he stated.
“Don’t allow the enemies of the police to use you,” the IGP said, warning the retirees against being taken advantage of by outside parties with hidden agendas. “Be suspicious of those who pretend to be on your side. They may not mean well for you”
Regarding the call for police officers to leave the CPS, the IGP stated, “I am not opposed to your exiting of the CPS. I’m not opposed to it. If exiting from CPS will solve the problem, I will go for it. But if it is difficult for us to exit CPS, what else can we do? We have been agitating exit CPS, exit CPS. For the past 11 years, it has not worked,”.
He added that although previous administrations have attempted to remove the police from the CPS, no single Inspector-General has the authority to carry out this process.
