NIPOST Retirees Lock Out Workers In Aba

Some retirees of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) in Aba on Tuesday locked the gates to the company in protest over alleged non-payment of their pensions for 45 months.

The gates to NIPOST office at Asa Road in Aba were locked by the protesting retirees.

The protesters carried placards with the inscription “Alhaji Mori Baba, Postmaster General, pay NIPOST retirees their 45 months pension arrears.  Another placard reads: “Pensioners are suffering and dying’’.

Secretary of NIPOST Retirees, Abia Territory, Mr. Obijiaku Ogemdi said that they were obeying the directive of their national body to embark on the protest.

“About now, a meeting is being held with the NIPOST management. “We are waiting for the outcome and if the meeting ends favourably, we will be told to open the gates and we will definitely obey. “But until then, the gates will remain locked and it is good that we enjoyed the sympathy of the staff,“ Ogemdi said.

He said that they were given the impression that their gratuities and pensions would be paid immediately after their retirement.

He said nothing had been happening since 2007 when they were disengaged from the service.

“Many of us were unexpectedly and prematurely retired in the name of downsizing or rightsizing. “We were given the impression that we will be paid our gratuity and subsequently our pensions after. “It is unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this situation and we all know that a hungry man is an angry man,” he said.