For the third time in 2022, Niger pensioners are protesting the non-payment of pensions and gratuities in the past seven years at the Government House.

The pensioners went to the Government House with mats, pillows, buckets and other personal belongings to occupy the gate until their pensions are paid.

The pensioners protested the unpaid pensions and gratuities twice before the latest ihcident.

They blocked the Government House gate with guests on the ground for the swearing-in of the local government chairmen not allowed into the venue.

They accused the government of being insensitive to their plight for the past seven years while describing the several screening and disbursements of pensions as a scam.

One of the pensioners, Abubakar Abdullahi said: “This government is wicked, how can you owe people for seven months and still have the mind to be living as if nothing is wrong?”

Another pensioner, Charity Yusuf, said that the government had not kept its promise in ameliorating the sufferings of the people in the State despite the several funds released by the Federal Government.

“The Federal government released Paris funds and other funds to this State but we can’t see anything that was done with the funds neither did they deem it fit to reduce the backlog of our pensions and gratuities,” he said.

The protest began until the governorship candidate the All Progressive Congress(APC) gubernatorial candidate Umar Bago, who was outside the Government House as a result of the blockade, pleaded with the pensioners to stop their protests.

Bago said that if elected, his administration will ensure that pensions are given top priority and they would get paid in due time

He appealed to them to move to a venue where he would meet with them after the ceremony to chart a way to resolve the crisis. (The Nation)