Soludo averts protest against AIRS, DSS over detention of market leaders

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State on Tuesday averted what would have been the greatest protest by traders in Anambra State over what they called intimidation and harassment of their leaders and the entire traders in the state.

The leaders of the trader’s were invited to a meeting by Anambra State Internal Revenue Service AIRS, with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday November 7, 2022, through a letter signed by the Chairman of AIRS, Richard Nwora Madiebo, at the Training Hall of Revenue House Awka, to discuss on the operational procedures for the collection of loading and offloading of Heavy Duty Trucks Fees in the various markets in the state.

As the meeting was ongoing, two market leaders from Building Material International Markets Ogidi and Aluminium and Allied Products Dealers Oguta Road Onitsha, were said to have given suggestion on the way to go about the collection of loading and offloading fees from the vehicles, to benefit both the government and the traders, to avoid crisis that may lead to break down of law and order.

Following the incident the meeting ended abruptly as other market leaders present at the meeting stormed out of the Training Hall, Revenue House Awka venue of the meeting for DSS office at Amawobia, Awka, to protest against the arrest of their colleagues, whom they felt gave genuine and sincere suggestion that will ensure crisis free toll collection on heavy duty vehicles in their markets.

Many market leaders in the state were said to have threatened that they will mobilize for a state wide protest against the government and DSS if their leaders were not released immediately, just as they expressed disappointment against the leadership of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, ASMATA, for not being able to speak for the traders in the state like successive leadership of the umbrella markets body in the state had done.

As the news of the arrested of the two market leaders got to their markets and lawyers of the market leaders and the market unions, the traders in their respective market started mobilizing for protest to Awka on Wednesday to register their displeasure over government action against their leaders.

Vanguard gathered that leaders of the markets in the state have threatened to boycott any invitation for meeting with the Anambra State Internal Revenue Services, since making suggestions in such meetings does not go well with government.