Tension in Abuja as police retirees plan indefinite protest over contributory pension scheme

A coalition of retired senior police officers has fixed Monday, April 13, for a major peaceful pro- test at the Presidential Villa, demanding their exit from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Operating under the aegis of the Association of Retired Police Officers under CPS, they said the demonstration would continue until President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assents to pending bills seeking their withdrawal from the scheme.

Last month, the National Assembly transmitted the Bill seeking the exit of the police from the controversial scheme following years of agitation from retirees who lamented their impoverishment under the CPS after decades of selfless service to the country.

The agitation reached a crescendo last year with pockets of protests by the retirees across states, which gained national attention and forced the lawmakers to begin the process of the police’s exit from the CPS, which other security agencies long abandoned.

Although the House of Representatives passed the Bill for an Independent Police Pension in October and the Senate followed suit in December, it was only on March 16 that the harmonised Bill was transmitted to the President for assent.

The retirees, who earlier threatened to storm the streets of Abuja in peaceful protest until the Bill was signed but were asked for more time, now said they had run out of patience.

Across social media platforms and police communities, the demand for the exit from the CPS remains rife, with many associating their continued stay under the scheme as demoralising. There is hardly any news on the police; you won’t find retirees demanding exit from the CPS in the comments.

In a mobilisation message signed by retired DSP Iliayasu Aliyu of the Nasarawa State Chapter, the group described the protest as a decisive step after years of hardship under the CPS, despite what they called decades of loyal service to the nation.

“This is not just a protest; it is a cry for justice. For years, we served this nation with loyalty, courage, and sacrifice. Today, in retirement, many of us are left struggling under a system that does not reflect the sacrifices we made,” it said.

According to the organisers, retirees from across the country are to converge on the Presidential Villa in Abuja on the scheduled date for what they described as a peaceful but firm stand for their rights, dignity, and future.