Pensioners in Anambra State have lamented the fact that their gratuities are always delayed and most times not paid at all, stating that it is inhumane of the government to treat them that way, News About Nigeria reports.
They made the plea to the government to pay their gratuities on time during a prayer session that was held to mourn the deaths of four of their colleagues who passed away as a result of this in the state capital on Thursday.
The pensioners who retired from the Local Government Service of Anambra State from 2015 to 2019 maintained that the deaths of their colleagues would have been averted if the government had given them what was theirs as and when due.
They stated that the prayer session was held so that they could come together as one to seek God’s intervention in averting more deaths and in surviving what they described as the inhumane conditions and intimidation meted out to them by government officials, whom they blamed for non-payment of their gratuities of over N850 million.
According to the chairman of the group, Raphael Okoye, their four colleagues lost their lives because they could not afford to pay their medical bills.
He condemned this, stressing that they had given their best to the government and dedicated themselves to their work and as such, deserved to be compensated and rewarded accordingly.
He therefore called on the Governor of the state, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, to look into the matter urgently and rescue them, adding that there were people in government undermining his administration by deliberately sitting on their pensions and gratuities from 2015 to date.
