Marcos retired on November 1, 2018, but her pension payments were initially delayed, and she only received N1.7 million as her gratuity after waiting for over a year.
A retired policewoman, DSP Esther Marcos, has spoken out about issues with her contributory pension after dedicating 35 years to the Nigeria Police Force.
Marcos retired on November 1, 2018, but her pension payments were initially delayed, and she only received N1.7 million as her gratuity after waiting for over a year.
The retired policewoman's experience is not an isolated incident, as the non-payment or delayed payment of contributory pensions by the Nigeria Police Force has been a longstanding issue affecting all police officers for over a decade.
After finally receiving her N1.7 million gratuity, she had to wait an additional three months before starting to receive her monthly pension of N40,000.
This delay highlights the challenges many police officers face in accessing their pension benefits, which can be a source of financial security in their retirement years.
She said, “My name is Esther Marcos, a retired DSP in the Nigeria Police Force. I retired on November 1, 2018.
“I just want to use myself as a case study. It is applicable to every other police officer that is under this dirty contributory pension scheme. I'm using myself as a case study.
“After serving for 35 years, though I joined the Nigeria Police Force at a very young age, I didn't go there to join the police force. I escorted a friend there.
“Unfortunately, she was not taken, I was taken due to my height because I'm tall. But I was not even up to 16 years when I joined the Nigeria Police Force.
“When I finally retired in 2018, I waited for like a year plus, then I was given N1.7 million after 35 years.”
Marcos added that “after waiting for another three months or so, they started paying me N40,000 as my monthly pension, after giving me N1.7 million as my gratuity for everything after serving for 35 years”.
“And that applies to every other policeman, policewoman, that retired from this dirty scheme called contributory pension scheme,” she said.
She lamented, “That is what we have been facing and that is what we have been going through. In fact, this trouble has gone on for over 10 years now.
“After 2018 when I retired, there was a meeting held by the police and when I asked, they told me it was the Police Retirees’ Meeting. They started it in 2017 or thereabouts.”
The Nigeria Police Force has been grappling with a long-standing issue of delayed or non-payment of contributory pensions to its retired officers.
For years, retired police officers have been vocal about their frustrations, protesting and lamenting the lack of payment under the compulsory and voluntary contributory pension scheme.
This issue stems from the challenges inherent in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
How on earth is anyone who worked for 35 years paid N1.7m ($1,100) as gratuity?
This is a retired DSP of @policeng speaking about her pension and gratuity after retiring from the Nigerian Police Farce, this is so sad!Nigeria does nothing but evil to its workers.
It is the… pic.twitter.com/HHM06vks6U
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) January 3, 2025