Retired Police Officers Block Aso Rock Gate, Protest Pension Scheme

Retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force and their families, under the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria, on Monday blocked one of the gates at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The protesters are demanding immediate removal of the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme, which they described as fraudulent, illegal, inhumane and obnoxious. They carried placards reading “End CPS” and “If military, DSS were removed from PENCOM, why not police?” while chanting “Police dey work, PenCom dey chop.”

NaijaChoice News reports that the group is pressing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the Police Exit Bill passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026.

The bill, if signed, would establish a dedicated Police Pension Board and free officers from what the retirees call a “slavery and untimely death-inducing” scheme.

Retired ASP Nurudeen Dahiru told reporters at the scene that the officers had served the country faithfully for 35 years but now face hunger, inability to train their children and “silent killing” under the scheme. “We are not begging anybody. We have come to fight for our rights,” he said.

National Coordinator of the forum, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd), who led the demonstration, noted that the military, Department of State Services, Air Force, Navy and National Intelligence Agency had all been exited from the Contributory Pension Scheme. “The police, who are the father of them all, are trapped in this obnoxious scheme,” he added.

This is the latest in a string of protests by the retirees. In July 2025, they stormed the National Assembly and later the Force Headquarters in Abuja over the same grievances.

At the time, the then Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said welfare of retired officers remained a priority but cautioned that exit from the scheme could not happen overnight.

The retirees insist the time for action is now, warning that many of their colleagues are dying in silence after decades of service to the nation.