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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
All shops and markets in Obollo-Afor, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State were shut yesterday, as traders staged a peaceful protest against alleged selective collection of a N25,000 haulage levy in the market.
The traders, who locked their shops and took to the streets in large numbers, carried placards with various inscriptions, alleging that the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS) had singled out Obollo-Afor Market for the collection of N25,000 haulage fee on every truckload of goods loaded or offloaded in the market.
However, Chairman of ESIRS, Emmanuel Nnamani, in a letter to the traders, said the haulage levy was not paid by traders buying or selling goods in the markets, but was applicable strictly to truck drivers plying interstate routes.
Addressing officials of the Udenu Local Government Council at the council secretariat, where the protesters marched to present their grievances, Chairman, Obollo-Afor Market Traders Association, Charles Eze, lamented that truck operators bringing foodstuffs, building materials, and other commodities to the market had stopped coming because of the levy.
Eze alleged that the truck operators had diverted their goods to Orba, Enugu-Ezike, Nsukka, and Orie-Igboeze, where they asked traders to go and collect them.
“The truck owners have diverted our goods to Orba, Enugu-Ezike, Nsukka, and Orie-Igboeze, asking us to come and pick our goods there because they don’t pay such levies there except in Obollo-Afor. And so, we are asking, why Obollo alone?” he queried.
Eze said the traders had no problem with the state government’s e-ticketing system, which he said they had been paying, but described the haulage levy as unfair if it was being collected only in Obollo-Afor.
“This levy has made trucks disappear from Obollo-Afor for more than two months now since it started. The truck drivers said they don’t pay such haulage fees in any other part of Nsukka or Enugu.
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“We asked the government to come and let’s discuss it, but they refused. We have discussed this with the Chairman of ESIRS, Ekene Nnamani, but he refused and asked his people to continue collection of the haulage,” he alleged.
Eze said the development had severely affected business activities in the market, forcing traders to shut their shops in protest.
“This is the reason we closed shops for protest because truck operators bringing goods for us have refused to come to Obollo-Afor, and it has crumbled the Obollo-Afor market and hunger has set in.
“We are asking Governor Peter Mbah to come to our rescue. We are not saying that we won’t pay levies, but let it be fees that are equally obtained in other places.
“We are ready to pay any amount of levy that is obtained in Akwata, Ogbete, Nsukka, Orba or in any other market in the state, but let Obollo-Afor not be an exception or singled out for selective taxation,” he said.
Other market leaders who joined the protest, including Chief James Odo of Foodstuff Dealers and Chief Damian Nwodo of Electrical and Electronic Dealers, also narrated what they described as the negative impact of the haulage levy on traders.
Responding on behalf of the Udenu Local Government Council, Secretary to the Local Government, Chika Aroh, said the council had scheduled a meeting with representatives of ESIRS to establish whether the tax was being collected only in Obollo-Afor.
“But, for now, we will tell them to stop the collection. After the Thursday meeting, we will communicate with you. Our promise is that we will remedy the matter,” Aroh assured the protesters.
