Security operatives on Monday fired tear gas to disperse a group of pensioners protesting at the Lagos State Governor’s Office in Alausa, Ikeja, over unpaid gratuities and accrued rights.

News Central correspondent, Omolola Ololade, who was at the scene, reported that the pensioners, many of them elderly and battling various ailments, had gathered peacefully to demand payment of their entitlements.

The pensioners had earlier marched from the Lagos State House of Assembly to the governor’s office. According to Ololade, security operatives initially prevented them from entering the Assembly complex, but they forced their way in before proceeding to Alausa.

“It’s a peaceful protest but along the line we just found out that they fired tear gas into the air and everyone was scattering for their lives. These are old women, old men, many of them with different ailments, and they had to use tear gas to disperse them,” Ololade said.

One of the protesters, a retired director who worked at the secretariat, said he receives less than ₦60,000 monthly and has children in the university.

“We are fighting for our right. They are owing us accrued interest dating back to 2007. Accrued interest that could have buoyed up our remuneration, but we are still waiting for it, and that’s why we came,” he said.

He added that the group had embarked on a warning strike a week earlier to notify the government of their planned action.

Despite being tear-gassed, the pensioners said they would not back down.

“We have recouped ourselves, and we are not going to back down. We are going to wait because this struggle is not about us alone. It’s about our children,” the retiree said.

The pensioners trekked from Ikeja to the governor’s office to press home their demands.

Source: News Central.