By Emma Una

CALABAR—ABOUT five retired workers of the Cross River State civil service die daily without receiving their gratuities since 2013, according to the findings of a group, the Concerned Retirees.

According to the leader of the group, 65 year-old Pastor Joshua Idang, who led his members on a protest march, yesterday, in Calabar, said that the state government has not paid retired workers their gratuity since June 2013, a situation he said has impoverished retirees in the state.

“From our findings, no fewer than five retirees of the state civil service die daily without collecting their gratuities.  The state government stopped paying gratuities in May, 2013 and they die because many of them cannot afford medical bills when they are sick,” Idang said.

He said that senior citizens in the state, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, had made several representations to the state government without success, adding that all they get from the government were promises.

“As I am talking to you now, many of the retirees  we know are very sick and cannot afford hospital bills.  We do not know what might happen to them but I can tell you authoritatively that at least five retirees die in Cross River State every day,” he said.

He claimed that only last month, about 150 workers retired from the state service and wondered why government was allowing gratuities of senior citizens to accumulate.

“We are afraid that since people are retiring every month from the service, it could get to a point where government may not be able to pay the accumulated benefits and this will complicate our problems,” he added.