By Our Reporter
Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force on Monday staged a protest at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, demanding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assent to the Police Exit Bill, which seeks to remove the Force from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
Operating under the umbrella of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF), the protesters marched from the Three Arms Zone to the vicinity of the Force Headquarters and proceeded to the Villa, where they blocked Gate 8, disrupting vehicular movement.
Carrying placards, the Nigerian flag, and police insignia, the retirees—led by National Coordinator Raphael Irowainu—described the CPS as “fraudulent, illegal, inhumane, and obnoxious.” They insisted that the scheme has subjected retired officers to hardship and called for urgent presidential intervention.
The protesters urged the President to sign the Police Exit Bill, which was passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to him on March 16, 2026. According to them, the bill would exempt the police from what they termed a “slavery and untimely death-inducing pension scheme.”
Some of the demonstrators, including elderly retirees, were accompanied by their spouses and children. They laid mats at the Villa gate, sang solidarity songs, and vowed not to leave until they were addressed by government officials. Attempts by security personnel to disperse them were unsuccessful.
Speaking to journalists, Irowainu lamented that while other security agencies—including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and intelligence services—have been removed from the CPS, the police remain the only major force still under the scheme.
He stressed that their demand was straightforward: the signing of the Police Exit Bill into law.
The protest marks the latest in a series of demonstrations by retired police officers, who have repeatedly called for their removal from the CPS, citing poor welfare and delayed pension payments.
As of the time of filing this report, no official from the Presidential Villa had addressed the protesters.