(Heavy Security as Military Retirees Protest Pension Adjustment. Photo CREDIT: Punch News)
Heavy police and military presence was visible around the Ministry of Defence in Abuja on Wednesday as security forces prepared for a planned demonstration by retired military personnel demanding implementation of pension adjustments.
At around 8am, reporters observed officers from the police, Army, immigration service and vehicle inspection agency stationed at the venue.
Armed soldiers moved around the area while security operatives positioned themselves strategically along roads leading to the ministry.
Two armoured personnel carriers and more than 15 vehicles from various agencies were stationed at both ends of the roads near the protest site.
However, the protest had not started by the time of reporting.
The retirees are demanding that the government implement consequential adjustments to their pensions following salary increases given to serving military personnel.
A retired colonel and protest organiser, Innocent Azubike, explained that President Bola Tinubu approved a military salary increase in November 2025 that should have included corresponding pension adjustments for retired soldiers.
Despite military authorities acknowledging and thanking the President for the approval, the adjustment has not been implemented.
Azubike said the issue became more urgent after a new military salary increase was announced in August 2026, scheduled to take effect in September.
He alleged that while the government computed funds for implementing this latest increase, pensioners were left out of the consequential adjustment calculations.
The retired officer stressed that retirees are not opposed to serving personnel receiving salary increases but want pensioners to benefit from the matching pension adjustments.
He warned that the exclusion could create problems.
Newly retired soldiers would receive significantly higher pensions because they would retire under the new salary scale, while those who retired earlier would continue receiving lower pensions, even if they held the same rank and had equal years of service.
