* Ikpeazu
Pensioners of Abia State University Teaching Hospital, ABSUTH Wednesday told Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to pay them their three years pension arrears and prevent the untimely  death of their colleagues. 

 Mr Victor Nwogwugwu, Chairman of the hospital’s pensioners in an interactive session with journalists in Aba lamented that poverty related causes are instalmentally killing his colleagues.

 He deplored the fact that for three years the Abia government  neglected them, causing several of them undue suffering and  resulting in  the death of others. He explained that  most of those who died were unable to access medical services due to poverty following non-payment of their pension. 

 He therefore urged the government, “in the spirit of fairness”, to pay the ABSUTH pensioners their pension entitlements. He said that the government should use part of the N10 billion refund given to the State from Paris debt deductions to settle  the arrears. “We the ABSUTH pensioners want to remind the governor that when the first federal government bail-out fund was received by Abia state, salaries were paid with it but we did not benefit from it.
“Now that the governor has made a promise to pay up workers salary arrears with half of the money he has received from Paris Club, he should remember ABSUTH pensioners and workers. “We are human beings but have kept quiet over the bad treatment given us until now. “The government should reciprocate our good gesture of peace with the reward of paying up our three years pension arrears,” the chairman said.