Members of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Rivers State council and civil servants yesterday besieged the state Secretariat in Port Harcourt to protest the non-payment of their salaries and pension arrears by the state government.    

The protest caused a gridlock for some minutes as workers and pensioners chanted war songs, calling on the state government to pay their salaries and pensions, Punch reports.

The state secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in Rivers State, Mr. Joseph Agbo, urged gov Amaechi to pay them before leaving office, adding that apart from the five months being owed pensioners, other arrears such as the 14 per cent, 15 per cent and 38 per cent increases had not being paid, even when they had been computed and sent to the governor for action.

“Pension is a right and not a privilege. Before the governor came on board, salaries of civil servants and pensioners were regular, but all these are no more," he said.