Rights Group Decries Multiple Taxation, Extortion Of Artisans

BY EBI NIEKETIEN

THE Civil Rights Council (CRC) has raised an alarm over the increasing extor­tion of business opera­tors in Asaba by persons claiming to be members of a task force.

Speaking with The Pointer, yesterday, the Co-ordinator, CRC, Comrade Victor Chima expressed concerns over what he described as “daily extor­tion of artisans, traders and struggling residents by those posing as task force members.

“We a re not sur e whether these people were appointed through legitimate means or sim­ply empowered by some powerful individuals. When we send people on surveillance, we discov­ered that many Nigerians, especially the artisans, traders and other low in­come earners are passing through hell in the hands of the so called task force members who are exploit­ing them.

“There is multiple taxa­tion being imposed on people barely managing to feed their families. It is unjust and unacceptable. The multiplicity of levies is crushing their liveli­hoods”, he lamented.

According to him, these so-called task force mem­bers, often in worn out aprons operate without valid identification and impose arbitrary levies on citizens, particularly tar­geting vulcanizers, petty traders and the likes.

Citing a specific in­stance, Chima noted that members of the Vulca­nizers Association were recently coerced into pay­ing ₦8,500 for aprons, fol­lowing an earlier demand of ₦6,500 for tyre markers purportedly used to indi­cate their work stations.

The group therefore, called on Delta State Gov­ernor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, to urgently investigate and curb their activities, saying that the group believes they were being carried out without his knowledge or official directive.

“We believe the Gover­nor, known to be people-oriented and compassion­ate, is not aware of the hardship these groups are inflicting on citizens. The people are suffering, and our office is daily over­whelmed with series of complaints,” Chima added.

He urged the state gov­ernment to ensure that any form of taxation is regu­lated, transparent, and not targeted at impoverish­ing the already vulnerable population.