Retired personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, accompanied by their families, staged a significant protest on Monday, blocking a primary entrance to the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Under the banner of the Police Retired Officers Forum of Nigeria (PROF), the veterans expressed deep-seated frustration over their continued inclusion in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), which they characterized as “fraudulent, inhumane, and obnoxious.”
The primary objective of the demonstration was to urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the Police Exit Bill. This legislative piece, passed by the National Assembly on December 4, 2025, and officially transmitted to the Presidency on March 16, 2026, seeks to remove police personnel from the CPS and transition them to a more favorable pension structure.
During the protest, CSP Raphael Irowainu (retd.), the National Coordinator of PROF, highlighted a perceived injustice regarding the treatment of various security agencies. He pointed out that while the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) have all been successfully removed from the CPS, the police—whom he described as the “father of them all”—remain trapped in the system.
The retirees argued that the current scheme provides inadequate financial security, describing it as a “slavery and untimely death-inducing” system that has severely compromised their welfare in retirement. Many of the protesters, including elderly officers who served the nation for decades, lamented that their current monthly payouts are insufficient to meet basic living costs or medical expenses.
This latest action follows a series of demonstrations, including a major protest at the National Assembly in July 2025 and several pickets at the Force Headquarters. The persistent unrest underscores a deepening rift between the police retirees and the federal government over pension reforms. As the protesters remain adamant, all eyes are now on the Presidency to see if the Police Exit Bill will finally receive the executive signature required to become law.
