N700 daily ticketing: We aren’t slaves, Edo wheelbarrow pushers cry out to govt

From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin

The chairman, Wheelbarrow Pusher Association, Edo State chapter, Otunba Adebayo, yesterday, called on the state government to investigate the issue of alleged extortion by individuals in the name of ticketing at the Oba Market, saying that they are not slaves.

He made call during a protest march against extortion and multiple taxations of members of the association in Benin City.

Adebayo said the recognized ticket by the association was N50 but suddenly, various levies started to emanate from nowhere, culminating to the sum of N1000 in a day.

“When they started, they were collecting N50. From N50 it is now N700. We are not slave. That is the reason for the protest.

“The money they are collecting from us is too much. government does not ask them to collect N700 from anybody. government did not also tell them to fight anybody, injured people in the market.

“The embarrassment is too much. If you go to hospital now, you will see a lot of the wheelbarrow pushers lying in hospitals. Some of us have given up the trade.

“How much are we working? Some will rent wheelbarrow for N300 and work at most N3000 while some will not work as much as that. That is how we have been sustaining ourselves in the business. Those that work between N700 and N1000 a day, if you remove N300 how much will now be left for the person? Nothing”, he said.

He added that “My people don’t want to steal, kidnap, yahoo (Internet fraud) but the only yahoo they know how to do is the wheelbarrows they are pushing for a living.

“The problem is that there are too much people collecting ticket from us (ticketing). Among the ticket people are those without ticket. They go about with marker. In the marker group, they are about six in groups”.

He said the protest will from today last to next week if government does not answer them or do something positive about it.

For Abdualli Samata, from Kano State, they pay N200 for community chair, marker, N200, painting, N200, all this money, according to him is too much for them to pay.

Also, Paul Okoh, called on Edo State government to come to their rescue noting that since the banning of bikes by the past administration in the state, they decided to take to pushing of wheelbarrows as a means of survival.

Caption: The wheelbarrow pushers protesting multiple taxations in Benin City yesterday.