Abuja: Angry military veterans protest over disengagement benefits, accuse Defence Minister

Retired military personnel have protested the non-payment of their Security Debarment Allowance and other outstanding benefits.

The aggrieved veterans accused the Defence Minister, Major General Salihi Magashi (rtd) of indifference to their plight despite several appeals and letters sent written to him.

They were joined in the protest by their relations and the next of kin of deceased soldiers.

The protesters barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Defence Headquarters at the Ship House, along Olusegun Obasanjo Way in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The retired personnel under the aegis of the Retired Members of Nigerian Armed Forces and the Coalition of Concerned Veterans accused the Defence Minister of deliberately refusing to disburse the Debarment cash, despite approval by President Muhamadu Buhari.

Addressing journalists, the spokesman of the group, Abiodun Durowaiye-Herberts, said, “we’re here alongside our wives and children, and the widows of late military personnel and veterans who died in service, some of whom died fighting Boko Haram terrorists. We’ll be sleeping over at this place until the Minister of Defence, Magashi accede to our demands”. Nation