Economic activities were grounded in Awka the Anambra state capital on Wednesday as commercial tricycle operators protested against the alleged tax regime by the government of governor Charles Soludo.
The tricyclists who stormed the government house blocked the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, particularly the popular Aroma Junction, causing heavy traffic along the expressway.
Members of the group with placards had complained bitterly against the high tax rate by the state government which they described as harsh and outrageous.
“They (officials) are asking us to pay N15, 000 to the Keke union, and a daily payment of N500. Our daily ticket used to be N450, and we were even appealing to the government to reduce it because it is high, but instead, they increased it to N500.
“Most of us that you see here are graduates who are managing their lives because there is no job for others. Some are driving their Keke on hire purchase basis,” one of the protesters said.
Some of the operators told our reporter that the country was already hard, and the governor cannot create additional hardship for them, stressing that this kind of policy is inimical to them even as they urged the governor to lessen their hardship.
However, the State government denied any involvement in the plan to subject tricycle riders to higher taxes.
The spokesperson of Anambra State Internally Generated Revenue Board, Mrs Tochukwu Ngige said that the protest may not be against governor Soludo as he has further simplified the payment of the tricyclists.
“Instead of many illegal payments they make in a day, which has even amounted to over N1,000 daily, the governor has said they can only pay N600 on monthly basis.
