FG pays N800m to families of deceased soldiers

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali yesterday offered cheques worth over N800 million to Next Of Kin (NOK) of deceased soldiers who died in the line of duty.

Speaking at a ceremony to distribute over 122 cheques to the beneficiaries, said the scheme commenced in 2010 and more cheques would be issued in the weeks to come.

“This is a clear demonstration of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration by making sure the welfare of our gallant troop is a priority particularly the family of our men, who died in active service is well catered for,” Dan Ali said.

The minister said ýthe Group Life Assurance Scheme for the Armed Forces emanated from the Pension Reform Act 2004, which excluded members of the Armed Forces from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

He said with the extant policy of “No Premium No Cover” on life insurance, some personnel who died during the uncovered period were not computed under the scheme, but the ministry is in the process of computing the entitlements of the NOKs that fell within the uninsured period, in order to seek for approval and make payments accordingly.

The Chief of Defence Staff, represented by the Director Legal services, Defence Headquarters, Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Shafii urged the NOKs to invest the funds in the education of children of the deceased soldiers.