CHILDREN of Benue’s retired workers on pension have scheduled to hold what they described as ‘Mega Protest’ to demonstrate against Governor Samuel Orom-led government over several years of unpaid pensions to their parents.
Mobilisation for the mega protest, which began on the social media a couple of weeks ago, has been schedule to hold on Wednesday, December 15, 2021 in Makurdi, Benue State capital.
According to the convener of the mass protest, Ngbede Ofoine Adoka-Ole, the protest will take-off from the J.S. Tarka Foundation, Makurdi and will move through major streets of the state capital to Benue Peoples House (Government House), Makurdi.
The organisers assured that there will be massive attendance at the protest by all children of pensioners “as we have been able to tour and visit all the 23 local government areas of Benue State already to meet with all our local government mobilizers.”
He said the protest will be peaceful as there will be maximum protection and safety for protesters during the demonstration. “Protesters are well-behaved, well cultured and well-mannered children of noble and law-abiding as well responsible pensioner-parents whom we are not different from and since we are not drunkards as wrongly and unethically insulted,” Adoka-Ole said in a veiled reference to a recent comment by Benue State governor, Dr Samuel Ortom which went viral and considered by many Benue indigenes as derogatory.
As at October 2021, the state government owed arrears of 33 months for state pensioners and about 74 months for local government pensioners.
The state’s pension arrears had continued to pile since Governor Ortom assumed office. He had insisted that it is not possible for him to upset the pension arrears in a swoop and that the plan of government was to alternate the payment between state and local government pensioners; a plan which did not give any definitive timeline for complete payment to pensioners many of who are said to be dying in droves, hence the resolve of their children to embark on the protest.
