*Angry Benue pensioners pause mass protest

By Peter Duru

For weeks, tension simmered quietly among thousands of pensioners across Benue State – men and women who once served the state, now grappling with years of unpaid entitlements. 

By mid-January, that tension was on the brink of exploding into the streets of Makurdi.

The turning point came when Governor Hyacinth Alia stepped in.

His intervention averted what could have been a major confrontation, persuading aggrieved pensioners to suspend a planned two-day mass protest over unpaid pension arrears, outstanding gratuities and the long-standing failure of the state government to harmonise pensions with the national minimum wage.

The threat of protest followed a 14-day ultimatum issued to the governor by the Benue State Council of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP. The ultimatum was contained in a formal letter dated January 7, 2026, addressed to Governor Alia and jointly signed by the State Chairman of the NUP, Mr. Michael Vembe, and the State Secretary, Mr. Saater Nyamgen.

According to the union, the decision was not taken lightly. It followed resolutions reached at a meeting of the State Council of the NUP – comprising pensioners from the state executive, administrative committee and all 23 local government areas – where members reviewed what they described as the “persistent neglect” of their welfare.

Retirees’ 

grievances 

At the heart of the grievance was the staggering scale of unpaid entitlements. 

The pensioners lamented the non-payment of pension arrears and gratuities inherited from previous administrations, stressing that local government pensioners “are owed as much as 96 months, while state pensioners are owed 42 months.”

They also accused the government of selective implementation of its own directives.

“His Excellency directed that five months’ pension arrears be paid to all pensioners, but only state pensioners benefited from the directive. Local government pensioners were completely excluded,” the letter stated.

Those five months of arrears, the union explained, consisted of one month paid in November 2024, two months in December 2024, one month in May 2025 and another month in December 2025.

Beyond arrears, the pensioners painted a grim picture of life on meagre monthly payments. 

They decried the failure of the state government to harmonise pensions to the approved minimum of N32,000, in line with a circular issued by the national headquarters of the NUP and the N70,000 Minimum Wage Act of 2024 – a law already implemented for serving civil servants in the state.

“This has worsened the suffering of pensioners, some of whom are receiving as low as N2,000 monthly. Even some retired permanent secretaries are earning between N7,000 monthly, while their contemporaries who retired recently earn over N300,000,” the statement read.

For the leadership of the union, patience had run out. 

Vembe warned that several letters had previously been written to the governor and other relevant authorities without any positive response.

“In compliance with the resolution of the Benue State Council of the NUP, if by January 21, 2026, our demands are not met, we shall have no option but to mobilise all pensioners across the 23 local government areas to Makurdi for a two-day peaceful protest,” he said.

The protest was scheduled for January 22 and 23, 2026, with planned stops at the Benue State Pension Commission, the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and the Government House in Makurdi. 

Copies of the ultimatum were also forwarded to the Secretary to the State Government, the Head of Service, the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, the Commissioner of Police and the Department of State Services DSS.

But just as the countdown to protest began, the governor intervened.

Following his appeal, the pensioners agreed to shelve the action. 

Governor’s 

intervention 

Giving an update on the development, the State Chairman of the NUP disclosed that Governor Alia had directed the Head of Service to collate all the demands of the pensioners, harmonise them and forward them to him for necessary action.

Vembe explained: “The Governor directed that we should send all our demands to the Head of Service. 

He said he has directed him to receive all the demands and bring it to him assuring that he will implement them. He said he does not want any issues with pensioners.

“So in order not to be at loggerheads with government, we will give him the benefit of doubt and suspended all our actions and demands to enable him handle the matter as he has offered.

“But if after sometime we discover nothing is being done we will be left with no other option but embark on what we want to do,” he added.

For now, the streets of Makurdi remain calm. 

But beneath the surface, the hopes – and fears – of thousands of unpaid pensioners rest on whether the governor’s assurances will finally translate into action.