Pensioners in the metropolitan city of Lagos were left gnashing their teeth in a poor meeting arrangement made by government officials.
The pensioners hobbling in the rain
Four pensioners reportedly collapsed during a verification exercise arranged on Monday, 27th of June, 2016 at the Oba Akinjobi old secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos.
According to a report on The Cable, the senior citizens waited at the venue of the exercise as a clearance for the payment of their benefits for a staggering period of 8 hours under the harsh weather as it rained heavily on them.
The verification exercise which was organised by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) was aimed at identifying pensioners in the civil service to facilitate the payment of their benefits and entitlements, and also to flush out ghost pensioners.
But the exercise turned a gruelling one, with overstretched queues and senior citizens having to stand for as long as eight hours, yet not being attended to.
On Tuesday, they were eventually informed that the exercise had been cancelled. A pensioner, in obvious anguish as he spoke to a news correspondeny, said “they forget that one day they will grow up to be in our shoes and only then will they understand what this feels like”.
Another pensioner, with teary eyes, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said he came all the way from Ondo state and spent a lot to transport himself, yet the exercise was cancelled.
“People have been here since 7:00 am and now you tell us to go home, that we will be contacted if anything comes up; even though we were not contacted when the decision was made. How are we to believe that?” he asked.
One witness lamented the situation, saying older citizens need not be put through such distress.
See more photos: