There is an unusual unrest at the computer village, located at Ikeja, Lagos following increasing and multiple levies imposed on the traders.
According to the traders, a new leadership was imposed on them by Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Iyaloja General and daughter of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The traders also complain that they operated with a well structured leadership whose rules and regulations have kept commerce and relationship with the general public seamless.
They lament imposition of a new leadership and illegal levies leading to the unrest and eventual shutting down of the market.
Nonso Bethel, spokesperson for the coalition of the 18 trade unions in the market made the views of the traders know to newsmen on Monday.
According to him, hoodlums loyal to the new leaders are charging unbearable levies. In his words,
“For instance, as a stall owner, if you take delivery of goods from the airport and you are bringing them into the market, the touts will collect N500 from the porter carrying them for you. If the goods are in your car, you will pay N2,000. But if you used a truck, they will collect N5,000.
Speaking further, the traders’ union spokesperson said that “the traders endured the charges until the traders were asked to start paying N50 every day. When they rejected this, they were mandated to pay N1,000 every month.
He lamented that “outside of this, we pay income tax, VAT and local government permits. So, we don’t know the constitutional authority that the Iyaloja has to be collecting N12,000 every year from shop owners. Those who sell by the roadside, they charge them between N1,000 and N1,500 on a daily basis.”
The unrest at computer village is further heightened when a security gate erected at the entrance to the computer village was brought down by hoodlums who claim that the Iyaloja’s permit was not sought before erecting it.
Gladly, the culprits are reported to have been arrested.
However, the Iyaloja’s views have not been received as her phones have remained unreachable.
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