There was anxiety yesterday when a 60-year-old pensioner, slumped at the Nigeria Postal Service office in Obalende, Lagos State.
The man and hundreds of other pensioners, were protesting the non-payment of 72 months arrears and the death of over 600 colleagues, with 105 in hospitals suffering from stroke.
The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Lagos State chapter, Abayomi Akinture Elijah, said they were also protesting the death of another colleague, Augustine Railway, who died in an auto crash while en route Abuja to have a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to them, an agreement was reached during the parley that they would be paid by February 2013, but that government has failed to honour same till date.
He said: “The agreement is that we would be paid by February, but they failed to fulfil the promise.
“That is why we are back here to protest. We are ready to die here.”
Olusola Omisore, Vice Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the NUP, said: “Since 2006, we have lost over 600 pensioners, 105 are on sick beds, having stroke.
“They owe us arrears of 72 months. We heard some of them who are supposed to pay us our money are using it to prepare for political campaigns in their states.
“Many of us are homeless. We don’t even have money to buy drugs.
“Without seeing our alerts, we won’t leave here and we won’t stop this protest,” he warned.
The protesters were still at the premises as at Tuesday evening when this news was being filed.
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