A human rights group, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has lambasted the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma for his insensitivity to the plight of the aged pensioners who are being owed months of pension arrears.
The group made her dissatisfaction known to the public through a press release signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma.
According to the release, the condition of the ageing pensioners was pitiable and left less to be desired.
It reads, “it is regrettable that the current Hope Uzodinma administration which ought to have continued from where Emeka Ihedioha stopped has not only worsened the situation, but taken it to a more worrisome dimension by beating, harassing, intimidating and physically assaulting the old men and women who embarked on a peaceful protest to fight for their entitlements.
“It is an aberration and height of betrayal that none of the so-called labour leaders in the state had the guts to condemn the flogging, brutalization and harassment of pensioners by thugs and hoodlums allegedly mobilized by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri from the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).”
The group further lambasted the state Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba for describing the pensioners as ghosts and illegal protests, accusing him to be the architect of Imo pensioners’ ordeal.
It also frowned at the involvement of the DSS, which according to the group, should have ensured maximum security of the pensioners.
RULAAC further noted with disgust that the staff of Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) are also subjected to the same trauma of uncleared salary arrears.
The group called on the government to offset all the pension arrears or leave the people with no choice than to revolt.
