Esther Marcus, a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police from the Nigeria Police Force, has voiced her discontent over the meager pension she has received after serving the force for 35 years.
In a viral video, Marcus, who joined the police force at the age of 16, shared her story of underpayment and expressed frustration over the country’s “dirty” contributory pension scheme.
After retiring in 2018, Marcus waited over a year before receiving N1.7 million as her gratuity.
However, her pension amounted to only N40,000 a month. She described this as a gross injustice, not only for herself but for all police officers under the same pension system.
“My name is Esther Marcus, a retired DSP of the Nigerian Police Force,” she began in the video. “I retired on November 1, 2018. After serving for 35 years, I was given N1.7 million as my gratuity.
“After waiting three more months, they started paying me N40,000 as a monthly pension. This is what every police officer has to go through under this scheme.”
Marcus revealed that despite numerous pleas and public hearings about the pension system, the Nigerian government has failed to address the issue. “This struggle has been ongoing for over 10 years,” she said, adding that the government’s repeated neglect to act on their concerns has only worsened the situation.
Further highlighting the inequality in the system, Marcus claimed that senior officers like the Assistant Inspectors General, Deputy Inspectors General and the Inspector General have been exempted from the pension scheme, leaving lower-ranking officers to bear the brunt.
“The AIGs, DIGs, and IGs have exempted themselves from this dirty contributory pension scheme,” she explained. “Only lower ranks are subjected to it.”
In her passionate plea, Marcus said the severe financial burden placed on police retirees, many of whom struggle to survive on the small pension they receive.
“How do you expect me to live on N40,000 after serving 35 years?” she questioned. “Even one-star officers are surviving on just N28,000. How can anyone live on that?”
Marcus, determined to continue the fight for her rights and those of her fellow retirees, vowed not to give up. “We will never stop fighting. We cannot stand by and allow this pure injustice to continue,” she declared.
Marcus also criticized the system that perpetuates corruption within the force, suggesting that police officers might feel forced to engage in unethical practices due to the financial hardships they face upon retirement.
“You expect them to stop corruption when they know they will face such conditions in retirement?” she asked. “They will continue to collect and extort because they see no other way to survive.”
Her message is clear – the retired police officers will continue their struggle until their voices are heard, and their rights are respected.
