INDIVIDUALS assuming the role of government in Delta State and in the process extort unsuspecting members of the public have been warned to desist or face the consequences of their actions.
The Chief of Staff, Government House, Prince Johnson Erijo, gave the warning when a delegation of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria visited him with a catalogue of issues affecting its members at the Oko Junction Market, Asaba.
He said government would investigate the activities of certain ‘Tax-Masters’ who had been illegally collecting money from the traders on the pretense of providing roads, drains and other social amenities in the market.
The Chief of Staff maintained that no individual had the right to embark on such a project in a public facility without the consent of governmentand assured the traders that government would get to the root of the problem.
Erijo commendedthe traders for not resorting to self- help on the matter, promising that their interest and welfare of the traders at the market would continue to receive the attention of the appropriate authorities.
In a document signed by its National President, Comrade Mohamed Tahir, the foodstuff and cattle dealers amalgamated union thanked the Delta State Government for embracing and providing them with a space for their business when they had issues in Onitsha in 2006.
The traders commended the government for its market and infrastructural development strides and promised to continue to contribute to the economic growth of the state.
The union drew the attention of government to the illegal activities of certain ‘Tax – Masters’, who had been collecting money by force from its members at the Oko Junction Market, for the past three years, on the pretense of providing roads, drains, among other infrastructure in the market.
