Traders, drivers protest in Enugu over taxes, fuel prices

Scene of the protest. CREDIT: Raphael Ede

Business activities and vehicular movement were disrupted in Enugu, the state capital, on Wednesday as hundreds of commercial transporters and market traders took to the streets in protest against what they described as heavy taxation and rising fuel prices.

The demonstrators, comprising tricycle (keke) riders, minibus drivers and shop owners, blocked major transport hubs and roads around the popular Ogbete Main Market, Old Park and Holy Ghost axis, disrupting access to the city’s central commercial district.

The protest highlights concerns over daily levies and state tax policies, which operators said were driving them out of business amid rising fuel costs.

The agitation came despite recent statements by the Executive Chairman of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, Ekene Nnamani, defending the state’s tax reforms.

Speaking at a revenue sensitisation forum, Nnamani said the state’s informal-sector Internally Generated Revenue surged from less than N100m annually to N7.4bn following a technology-driven consolidation of levies.

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According to the state government, the central e-ticket system, costing N36,000 annually for traders and involving daily consolidated payments for transporters, was designed to eliminate illegal road tolls and multiple-agency extortion by the Enugu State Waste Management Authority, Enugu State Environmental and Climate Change Agency and local government councils.

However, operators at the scene gave a different account. Transporters alleged that daily operational taxes had been increased repeatedly, from N350 to N1,000 per day, over the past 20 months.

“We are forced to pay exorbitant daily tickets, park fees, and heavy fines if we don’t pay before noon, all while fuel prices keep climbing. Today PMS is N1,450 per liter,” said Michael Chieze, a commercial driver at the scene. “Now there are fears they want to push us out entirely.”

As traffic congestion affected parts of the capital, police units and government representatives were deployed to the Ogbete-Holy Ghost corridor to engage with the protesters and restore public order.