BY CHARLES ADINGUPU

For traders and trailer drivers at the Mile 12 food market, it was a case of  hopeless despair as they are daily subjected to all manner of levies. The extortion rages from unwarranted taxation, land rent, area boys tax, local government levy, task force levy among others.

Already, the traders are caught in the web of three local government areas. They include, Kosofe Local Government, Agboyi Ketu local development authority and Isheri Ikosi Local Government Area.

Ironically, these council areas battle for levies over the traders. However, for some of the traders who are ignorant on the local government boundaries, they suffer multiple taxation and levies.

One of the traders at the market, Hassan who sells fresh tomatoes and pepper in an open space adjacent the Mile 12 flyover, lamented that the multiple levies collected by different unknown bodies at the market also impacted negatively on the prices of his goods.

“I pay one thousand naira monthly, two hundred and fifty naira daily to the Isheri Ikosi Local Government Council officials; area boys also  insisted  on collecting some token from us and at other times, men of the Lagos State task force forcefully obtained money from us under the guise that we operate illegal stalls,” Hassan disclosed.

According to him, sometimes, officers of the Agboyi local council development authority make some frivolous demands of money from them. Also, a trailer driver who gave his name simply as Alhaji lamented the untold hardship they suffer in the hands of different toll collectors.

First, the area boys will start disturbing us immediately we arrived Ojota, demanding money from us. Again, the area boys of Ketu and Mile 12 will request for their share and finally the government will now ask us to pay a minimum of eleven thousand naira depending on the seize of your truck, but sometimes we pay N15,000 before we are allowed into the market to discharge our goods.

Besides, “we still have to pay the daily N250 parking fee depending on the number of days you have to stay to the local government authority”, Alhaji recalled painfully.

Iya Oloja who sells yams in the market criticised the different levies imposed on the traders. She stated that from the point of bulk purchase of their goods (yam), arbitrary levies are collected from them.

Hear her: “We pay for land after paying for the quantity of goods  bought. The area boys will ask for their share. The local government officials, Traders’ Association and task force will collect money. All these are outside the rent we pay for the shop.”

Another trailer driver, Adamu disclosed that some unknown soldiers who pretend to be maintaining law and order at the market, also connive with miscreants, otherwise known as area boys to collect fixed amount of money from trailer drivers.

“There are too many people collecting one levy or the other. Hence most of our goods are expensive. The government should try and do something about this. I have already paid N15,000 before I was allowed into market to dispose my tomatoes,” he said.

But a fresh fish seller, mama Ifeanyi stated that much as she displays her wares by the road side, all the different organs, both authorised and unauthorised would request some amount of money from her. “Our case is worse, we only have a table by the roadside to sell our fish, yet, the amount of money  paid to these toll collectors is quite higher if we had a shop at the market,” she said.

Apart from the usual local and sate government officials, different government agencies such as the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials, LASMA officials, market touts also make spurious  demand from them. A shop owner at the Mile 12 bus stop, Mazi Obisku lamented that the arbitrary levies imposed on traders in the market amounted to unwarranted extortion.

Mazi is of the opinion that such levies have impacted negatively on the prices of items sold in the market. “Nobody goes into business to run at a lose. Therefore, whatever expenses I incurred in the course of running my business must be recovered either overtly or otherwise,” he stated.

Mallam Shehu who sells live goats at the popular Ajalogo market ,a stone throw away from the Mile 12 market, said the menace of miscreants popularly known as area boys must be put to check and the duplication of levies by the different government agencies  should be equally addressed if prices of goods generally must go beyond the reach of the common man.

“At the moment, we pay all manner of levies. I cannot even recall which is which. Unfortunately, any attempt to resist the tax collectors will result to fracas and at the end, you will lose because the area boys are there to make away with your goods whenever crisis ensues,” he said.

From the big time traders down to the ordinary food condiment seller, their stories remain the same, extortion by different government agencies, miscreants, soldiers, different traders’ union, task force officials  is endless. At the Ketu fruit market, the traders complained of arbitrary collection of levies by different agencies.

“After paying all these levies, we also pay  for security every month. Then we ask what is the use of paying tax if the Lagos State government and local government authority cannot secure our goods,” Bosede a fruit seller queried.
However, it was extortion galore at both ends of the market.