Oba Market Women Reject Sacrifice Levy, Extortions By Waste Managers

Market women and men in Oba Market in Benin City, Edo State have protested alleged extortion by waste managers in connivance with market leaders and Oredo local government officials.
The traders, who took their protest to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre said they were being forced to pay N1,000 sacrifice Levy to the Oba ‘s Palace and other arbitrary levies in the market.
The leader of the protesters, Mrs. Veronica Eboshiogue said the levies had become too much for them to pay and that government had refused to consider the appeals they have made for its intervention in the matter.
She said, “In those days we used to have associations but now everybody is after their own pockets. They just wake up and impose levies and nobody can speak for us. If it was the time of Oshiomhole, when we cry out like this the government will answer us but now nobody helps.
“In December they said we should pay N1,000 for sacrifice from the palace and if you don’t pay they will pack your things away. It was the same thing last year. They increased our fee for sanitation from N200 to N500 and less than one year again, last Monday; they just pasted a notice that everybody will now be paying N1000 each for sanitation while squatters will be paying N150 daily.
“Recently they came to collect N1,000 each to clean our drainage only for us to discover they were directed to come and clear and not collect money from us.
Another trader, Blessing Osaro said, “They have broken the market walls and allocated to people so we that are inside cannot even sell, yet we are the ones paying.”
They vowed to continue with the protest if Oredo revenue collectors refused to accede to their demands .
They also alleged that the embarrassment and assault meted out to them by agents of the waste managers to pay the money had become unbearable, pointing out that many traders had been arrested for refusing to pay the money.
The Oba market traders appealed to Oba of Benin, Edo state government and other kind individuals in the state to come to their aid. They said it was from their trade that they get money to take care of their families that they cannot go into prostitution.
When contacted, the Director of Revenue, Oredo local government area, Agbons Uyigwe said the increment was as a result of complains from waste managers over the cost of diesel as all their vehicles use diesel and that the new rate was a compromise compared what they demanded.
“We cannot leave our markets in the filthy situation they are with lassa fever, monkeypox prevailing so we met the waste managers and they suggested that instead of N500 sanitation levy from store owners and N50 from squatters, the store owners should now pay N3,000 monthly while the squatters will pay N300 daily. We told them it is not possible so we agreed that for the stores, we will increase it to N1000 and for squatters to N100 against what they were requesting.”
On the breaking of market walls for allocation, Uyigue said that would be taken care of once the council was able to raise the needed funds to rebuild the market which was few years ago gutted by fire.