FG Begins Payment Of Retired Military Personnel’s Entitlements After Protests

The Federal Government on Tuesday began disbursing long-overdue entitlements to retired military personnel, following their sustained protests at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja.

The ex-military officers, who had barricaded the entrance to the ministry as early as 7 a.m., began receiving payment alerts while still at the protest ground.

The alerts prompted the dismantling of canopies and chairs they had set up to block the ministry’s entrance, with many of the protesters leaving the site shortly afterward.

The retirees, who had previously staged a similar protest in December 2024, demanded the full payment of their entitlements, including outstanding palliatives for October 2023 to November 2024, an additional ₦32,000 added to their pensions, a bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance, and a refund of pension deductions for medically boarded soldiers.

“We are now evacuating the ministry headquarters to return to our various homes,” the spokesperson for the Coalition for Concerned Veterans, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts confirmed the payment to Punch.

Earlier before the payment, their protest on Tuesday caused disruptions, preventing ministry staff from driving into the premises and forcing them to park outside.

Efforts by security agencies and senior ministry staff to persuade the protesters to disperse were initially unsuccessful, as the retirees insisted they would only leave upon receiving credit alerts for their entitlements.

Addressing the protesters, the Chairman of the Military Pension Board, Air Vice Marshal Paul Irumheson, assured them that the funds had been transferred.

“We have received the money for the payment of your entitlements, and in the next few minutes, you will start seeing your alerts. We plead with you to leave as we are making efforts to ensure everyone gets paid,” he said.

The protests were a response to the government’s earlier failure to fulfill a promise made in December to settle the balance after paying 50% of the owed entitlements.