Retired police personnel in South-South Nigeria have accused authorities of subjecting them to “slave-like” conditions under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), demanding an immediate transition to the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) managed by a dedicated Police Pension Board.
At a meeting in Calabar on Tuesday with the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Omolola Oloworaran, 280 retirees from across the region voiced anger over what they described as gross disparities between their benefits and those of their counterparts in the military and other security agencies.
According to them, while retired military officers of equivalent rank earn between ₦200,000 and ₦800,000 monthly, police retirees take home as little as ₦18,000 to ₦70,000. “A retired Commissioner of Police earns about ₦70,000 while a Major General, his equivalent in the army, goes home with about ₦800,000. This is fraud and a shame to the government,” said Ofem Mbang, National Legal Officer of the Police Retirees Association.
They also alleged that certain serving and retired senior police officers, working with private pension fund administrators, were complicit in denying them their rightful entitlements. Many described the scheme as exploitative, insisting that “no amount of improvement under CPS will satisfy us.”
The retirees called for the establishment of a Police Pension Board similar to that of the military, stressing that security agencies’ pensions should not be managed by private companies. “We want a permanent structure, not palliatives that come and go. We want our pensions and gratuities managed directly by government,” Mbang added.
Responding, PENCOM Director-General Oloworaran acknowledged the grievances, describing the current pension payouts to police retirees as “embarrassing.” She assured them that President Bola Tinubu had directed reforms to address their plight and pledged that outstanding debts would be cleared.
“The police are fighting a righteous cause. I cannot reveal the full details yet, but I have made proposals that are before government for approval. I appeal for calm and patience for two more months as we work to reform the system,” she said.
For now, police retirees say they remain resolute: only a complete exit from the CPS and the creation of a dedicated Police Pension Board will bring justice to their ranks.
