Pensioners under the aegis of Pension Intervention Committee have raised the alarm that the lives of their leaders may be in danger as the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state is threatening to deal with them over the agitation for their unpaid pensions.
This is also as our correspondent gathered that the Chairman of the group, Iyke Ohaneje and his secretary, Maurice Amaechi have been forced to go underground after being quizzed by the DSS.
In a recorded conversation shortly after their return from the DSS office on Monday, Amaechi told newsmen, that the DSS is going out of their way to stop them from demanding their rights.
Amaechi said, “They invited us Monday and we went there. The Director was there and they were intimidating us and telling us to stop demanding for our entitlements. I told them that it was our rights to demand our pensions and gratuities from government and that we have not run foul of any law of the land. Section 210 of the constitution stipulates that.”
Amaechi said they were now at a loss as to the interest of the DSS, whether they were protecting the pensioners or protecting the government by trying to force them to stop pensioners from coming out to demand for their right.
He noted that their weekly meetings and rallies to press home their demands were never destructive or disruptive as they were only interested in demanding their entitlements.
“And these are old men and women. The government of Imo state is introducing genocide, they just want them to die.”
He contined:”The DSS is no longer friendly with us. They have colluded with the government to intimidate us and harass us. Even at a point they were pointing guns at us threatening that if we come out tomorrow to protest that they will deal with us.
“One of them even said we should leave town and I am asking, why are you forcing us to leave town, what crime did we commit? We are only asking for our pension, so what crime did we commit?
60-year old Maurice Amaechi, said they were grilled at the DSS for about four hours.
Effort to reach the State DSS office for reaction proved abortive as our correspondent learnt there was no public relations desk in the state command.
