The Abuja division National Industrial Court, has ordered the Nigerian Army and the Military Pension Board to process and pay the pension and gratuity of late Lieutenant Abba Kiri, 45 years after his death.
The court ordered that the late officer’s pension and gratuity should be paid to his son, Bashir Abba Kiri, who is recognized as the ‘lawful next of kin’.
The court presided over by Justice Olufunke Yemi Anuwe in a judgment delivered on July 10, 2026, held that the claimant was entitled to receive his late father’s pension and gratuity after the Army had officially acknowledged him as the deceased officer’s next of kin in a letter dated October 19, 2022.
Bashir Abba Kiri who represented other family members through his lawyers, Ahmad Eleburuike, S. M. Yusuf and U. D. Achem, had sued the Chief of Army Staff, the Ministry of Defence, the Nigerian Army and the Military Pension Board, and prayed for declarations that he was the recognised next of kin of the late officer, who died in active service on April 6, 1981.
He also asked the court to compel the defendants to pay his father’s pension, gratuity and other benefits, in addition to N150 million in damages.
The claimant told the court that although his father served the Nigerian Army for over 15 years before his death, the family never received his pension or gratuity. Adding that that he was only nine years old when his father died and that repeated attempts to process the benefits were frustrated by demands for documents, including a condolence letter, Unit Part Two Order and service records, which he could not produce after more than 40 years.
The defendants through their lawyers,Victor Obong Atang, C. N. Okusa, I. K. Animasaun and P. M. Ukanga, had argued that no family member approached the Army to claim the benefits until 2022, while maintained that the requested documents were mandatory for processing payment.
In her judgment, Justice Anuwe ruled that the Army had already recognised the claimant as the authentic next of kin and that insisting on documents not required by law amounted to an unlawful obstacle to accessing pension benefits protected under Section 173 of the Constitution.
Justice Anuwe however, rejected the claimant’s request that the benefits be calculated using current salary scales.
The judge held that under Section 7 of the Armed Forces Pensions Act, the gratuity and pension must be computed based on the deceased officer’s salary and entitlements as of the date of his death in 1981.
The court dismissed the claims for N100 million general damages and N50 million special damages, holding that they were not proved.
In conclusion Justice Anuwe ordered the defendants to waive the disputed documentation requirements, compute and pay the pension and gratuity within 30 days.
The judge also awarded N1 million in costs to the claimant, and directed that any default beyond the deadline would attract interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum until full payment is made.