Retired military personnel who staged a sit-in protest at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Finance on Monday have suspended their action following assurances from government officials that their outstanding entitlements will be paid by Friday.
The veterans, some of whom served for over two decades, had blocked the entrance to the ministry’s Abuja headquarters with chairs and a canopy, demanding long-overdue gratuities and allowances. Their protest follows closely on the heels of similar demonstrations by serving police officers, who are calling for an exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme, describing it as both exploitative and insufficient.
Speaking after a closed-door meeting with ministry representatives, a protest leader who identified herself as Mama G said the group had resolved to stand down their action — but only temporarily.
“They promised to pay us by Friday. We are giving them the benefit of the doubt. If we don’t get our alerts, we will reinforce massively here,” said the retired sergeant, who spent 20 years in service. “They paid me N3.7 million — after two decades. What am I meant to do with that in this country today?”
The group’s grievances include unpaid gratuities, half payments, and the withholding of allowances such as the Soldiers’ Disengagement Allowance (SDA) and parking allowance. Many of the protesters were discharged in 2023 but said their official disengagement dates were moved to February 2024 — yet even since then, they have not received their full entitlements.
Another retired soldier, Corporal Moses Eze, said the protest was borne out of a desire to seek justice peacefully and avoid being pushed into desperation.
“We are over 700 personnel still waiting to be paid, from first to fourth quarter,” he said. “We don’t want to commit an atrocity in this country. We just want the government to do the needful and pay what belongs to us.”
Eze, visibly emotional, warned that if payments were not made by the promised deadline, the next steps could be more disruptive.
“If we don’t receive our money by Friday, or at the latest Monday, we won’t just come back here. We might go to another length, which the government will not be happy with,” he warned. “We are retired professionals who can handle any type of gun.”
The group says the military and government are fully aware of the funds owed, with Eze alleging that NCS records confirm the retention of payments due to 400 personnel in the first and second quarters, and 300 more in the third and fourth.
Retired Sergeant Abdul Rasheed Isiaka said some veterans were paid only half of their gratuity, with key allowances completely ignored. “Our salaries were stopped just three months into terminal leave. We’ve written letters to all the relevant agencies — Defence Headquarters, Ministry of Finance, everyone. We warned them that if they didn’t pay us by August 4, we’d protest.”
The veterans also gave candid testimonies about the hardships that led them to leave the service. Mama G cited institutional corruption and years of being short-changed.
“It’s not that I really wanted to leave,” she said, “but the corruption was too much. I didn’t want to waste more of my life.”
Eze echoed the frustration. “I started building my house in 2015. I haven’t finished it. They call us first-class citizens, but I couldn’t even build a home. I didn’t want to steal or harm people to survive — I wanted to earn an honest living, but they refused to pay what they owe.”
He said he left the military after 13 years, despite having 22 more to serve. “The injustice was too much,” he said.
As the deadline draws near, the ex-soldiers say they are watching carefully. For now, they’ve stood down — but the warning is clear: unless the promises are kept, they will be back, and next time with a stronger presence.
