BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
SCORES of retired teachers in Iwo, Osun State, on Monday, protested the alleged non-payment of their pension and gratuity by the state government.
The retirees, who stormed streets of the town, chanted different anti-government songs to express their displeasure over the alleged failure of the state government to settle their entitlements.
It is not the first time retirees in the state would be protesting the non-payment of their entitlements.
Armed with placards with varying inscriptions, the senior citizens stormed Iwo East LCDA secretariat, Olomowewe.
They said the state government had refused to pay pension since 2016, despite doing a contributory pension while in service.
Some of the placards they displayed carried inscriptions such as: “Oyetola pay us our money”, ” Oyetola this suffering is too much”, “Oyetola stop lying”, among others.
The leader of the peaceful demonstration, Okunlola Joseph Oludare, explained that the state government had refused to pay their contributory pension since 2016.
He said those affected were members of the Osun State Contributory Pension Retirees.
“They should stop telling lies, they have not paid us. Some of us are sick, some have died because they can’t afford food. Schools are resuming now and our children will remain at home because we can’t afford to pay school fees,” he lamented.
Another protester said, “This government (Osun Government) needs to stop telling the people of Osun that they have paid pensions, when in the real sense, they have not.
“You will see N100 billion in the news, yet we don’t get paid, so who are they paying?” She queried.
