By Rosiji Adeyemi
Scores of retirees of First Bank of Nigeria have staged a peaceful protest at the bank’s Dugbe Regional Office, warning that many are dying from hunger and lack of medical care due to meagre pensions
The protesting retirees carried placards bearing various inscriptions such as ‘ We are dying ‘, ‘Save our souls’, ‘First Bank’s inhumane treatment is heartless’, ‘Federal Government, come to our aid’, and so on.
The pensioners lamented that the current situation is taking a toll on their health.
Led by Pastor John Gimbason, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, First Bank Unit, the pensioners described their experiences as “heartless and inhumane” treatment from the bank after their retirement.
Gimbason said: “As the National Chairman of First Bank Pensioners, it is with a heavy heart that I bring to light the deplorable treatment we receive from the bank management. Despite our dedicated years of service, we receive an abysmal monthly pension of #15,000.
“We also receive an annual medical allowance of #30,000, which has remained unchanged for over two decades. With inflation surging exponentially, these amounts are an insult. Many of us struggle to survive, and this has led to untimely deaths.
“The management’s refusal to increase our pension and medical allowance is not only insensitive but also unjust” , he said, adding that the management of the bank promised a payoff scheme but came out with an unrealistic template of about #1.5 million.
Also speaking, the secretary of the First Bank Pensioners’ union, Ibadan branch, Gbenga Adetunji, said the issue had persisted for over 20 years.
Elder Adegoke Oladosu,who retired in 1980, said it was unfortunate that the bank has been treating the pensioners in an unfair manner. On his part, a former Regional Manager, Ibadan chapter of the bank, Prince Olaoya Debo, decried the bank’s treatment of them after years of dedicated service.
The pensioners, therefore, unanimously demanded an upward review of their monthly pension to a living wage of #120,000, medical allowance to a realistic of #500,000 per annum.
They also appealed to the Federal Government, corporate organisations, civil societies, and the public to hold the bank accountable.
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