Military retirees gathered outside the Ministry of Defence in Area 10, Garki, Abuja, on Wednesday to protest a year of unpaid arrears and demand inclusion in the salary increase President Bola Tinubu approved for serving personnel.

Following the protest, roads leading to the ministry and the nearby United States of America Embassy were closed to vehicular traffic, with armed troops and light armoured personnel carriers deployed around the ministry from as early as 6am, backed by police and other paramilitary personnel.

As the retirees marched from behind the ministry toward the front entrance with placards, soldiers led by a Major stopped them a few metres from the gate, appealing to them not to approach further and assuring that officials would come to address them.

Speaking on behalf of the retirees, retired Lieutenant-Colonel Innocent Azubike demanded payment of arrears tied to the salary increase Tinubu approved for the Armed Forces in November 2025.

“This is August 2026, they have not implemented it as if it’s a scam,” Azubike said, noting that military high command officials had repeatedly thanked the President for the increase without extending its benefits to pensioners.

Retirees Say Newer Pensioners Earn More Than Senior Colleagues

Azubike said the gap has created stark inequities within the pension system, where a Sergeant who retired recently could be receiving a higher pension than a Captain who retired a decade earlier, despite both having served in the same military.

“The consequential adjustment that is increased in the pension is in the Armed Forces Act. But some fellow sit in high offices, they don’t live on their salary. Some ask, what do pensioners do that they need to increase their pay? So, we find it painful. We all go to the same market,” he said.

He argued that the Armed Forces Act, the law governing pay, benefits and conditions of service for Nigeria’s military, requires a consequential adjustment to pensions whenever serving personnel receive a pay rise, and accused the Ministry of Defence of excluding retirees when it computed the funding required to implement the new pay increase, which takes effect from September 1.

“If you compute the fund requirement for implementing the most recent increase, and you exclude pensioners, you are depriving them of their constitutional and legal right as enshrined in the constitution and the Armed Forces Act,” he said.

Retirees Say Ministry Has Their Records, Await Presidential Attention

Azubike said the implication of the exclusion is that officers who retired years ago now receive pensions comparable to those of much more junior personnel retiring today, undermining the seniority such officers earned over decades of service.

He called on the ministry to act on the matter, noting that the retirees' records are already on file with the ministry.

“The Ministry of Defence knows us. Our details are with them,” he said, adding that the protest was directed at the ministry rather than the presidency because Tinubu handles numerous issues and “may not always get all fact on it.”