Imo pensioners blastsOkorocha for paying them peanuts as pension

The ongoing statewide pension payment exercise being carried out by the government led by Governor Rochas Okorocha has come under heavy criticism from the Senior Citizens who have accused Government of inhuman treatment.

The pensioners who spoke to Nigeria Newspoint on condition of anonymity in their various wards in Owerri and Orlu zones visited by the newspaper alleged that the government shortchanged them by paying them a paltry 50% and also paying them for the month of August only out of a cumulated arrear of fifteen months.

Most of the Senior Citizens whose faces fell immediately after collecting their cheques expressed shock that government could be so heartless as to pay them 50% meaning that some of them were paid as low as three thousand naira (N3,000).

According to them their case was made worse by the fact that the payment was made through cheque which means they would still spend money to travel to Owerri to cash the peanut with the result that by the time the process is over they would be left with little or nothing to take care of themselves not to talk of their families.

They were pained that they were so treated after undergoing countless verification exercises carried out under scorching sun in Owerri, their various council headquarters, in the community Council Government offices in their various  autonomous communities, among others.

They could also not understand why government paid them only one month leaving behind a whooping backlog of fourteen months even as many feared government may turnaround to claim it has paid them up to date.

The visibly piqued pensioners called on the governor to have pity on them as many of them have died and still dying daily due to hardship and suffering inflicted on them by the non-payment of their legitimate entitlement was causing them.

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