By Ndahi Marama

MAIDUGURI—HUNDREDS of aggrieved pensioners  besieged  the Musa Usman Secretariat Maiduguri, the Borno state capital yesterday to press home their demand over their outstanding arrears which according to sources amounted to billions of naira.

Speaking on behalf of the pensioners, Comrade Yusuf Suya told journalists that, it is unfortunate and undemocratic for the state government to owe about N700 million as pension arrears to retired state government workers alone, and N276 million to local government retired workers respectively, without the government doing anything over it, a situation which has left the retirees to resort to begging for  survival and while wallowing  in abject poverty and frustration.

It could be recalled that, Comrade Suya three weeks ago, informed Journalists at the state Pension Board that the state government owed the sum of N2.5 billion as gratuity to retired state government workers and N1.2 billion to retired local government workers, even as he shifted the blame on the Head of Service, Engineer Ali Gambo Maina, whom he described as the roots cause of the whole saga.