Chairman of Retired War Affected Police Officers, Chief Mathew Udeh (right); Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PTAD, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor and Chairman Retired Nigerian Police Officers Association, Mr. Fidelis Oyakilome at the event.
From; Madu Ezenoha, Enugu
A total of 219 retired Nigerian police officers, who fought on the Biafran side during the Nigerian civil war received their pensions in Enugu on Friday.
The affected ex-police officers were those in the Nigeria Police force as at 1967 but joined the Biafra police at the break of the three years civil war.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the payment, which is coming 47 years after the civil war.
At the end of the war in 1970, officers were not re-absorbed into the Nigeria police while other public and civil servants were re-absorbed.
However, former President Olusegun Obasanjo granted them amnesty on May 29 2000 and commuted them to retirement but they had hiccups in receiving their benefits till President Buhari’s recent approval.
Performing the flag off for payment of the pension in Enugu, Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, Mrs. Sharon Ikazor said that the batch of payment included 162 officers who were
not on the payroll and 57 next of kin of those who have also not been paid their death benefits.
Ikeazor noted that the other 155 officers who are on the payroll but were being short paid would be paid in the next batch as soon as their pension benefit computation is concluded.
Ikeazor said, “This represents another decision by the federal government to bring closure to the painful legacies of the civil war.”
President of the Affected War Police officers, ARWAPO, Barrister Mathew Udeh hailed President Muhammadu Buhari, former Presidents Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan; as well as Mrs. Ikeazor and all those who made the payment a reality.
The ex-Biafra Police officers bestowed Chieftaincy title on Mrs.Ikeazor for her peculiar role in bringing the payment to fruition.
Former Chairman of Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA and chairman of Retired Nigeria Police Officers, Mr. Fidelis Oyakilome was present in the function.
