Paul Osuyi, Asaba

Retired primary school teachers and local government workers in Delta State, yesterday, stormed the streets of Asaba, the state capital to protest unpaid accrued benefits of N48,369,331,624.00 as at December 2019.

While N40,231,422,556.00 is for primary school retirees, the balance of N8,137,909,068 is for retired local government workers, according to the protester.

Clad in black clothes and bearing placards of various inscriptions, the protesting senior citizens marched through the streets demanding the payment of their entitlements.

Spokesperson for the protesters, Helen Egie, said retirees which numbered over 5,000 had suffered enough hardship and humiliation since retirement.

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Egie said 35 teachers have died due to ill health and disease, lack of care and money to purchase basic medication.

She said several meetings with government officials yielded no results hence the peaceful protest.

According to her, records from Bureau of Local Government Pension, not remited deductions from staff contribution amounted to N5.9 billion.

Egie said with the current monthly allocation of N300 million by the state government, it will take over 18 years to offset the N40 billion backlog.

She accused government of wanting local government/primary school retirees to be without any means for over 18 years after retirement.