Residents of Iyiowa Odekpe town in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have protested the destruction of their properties by indigenes of the town over their resistance to being extorted through revenue collection.
The residents who held a peaceful protest at the Anambra State Government House said they hail from various parts of the Southeast and settled in Iyiowa Odekpe, but we are surprised that despite the ownership of their properties in the area, the indigenes keep molesting and extorting them.
The leader of the protest, Dr. Tony Chukwunoso Princewill, who spoke at the government house, said the indigenes invaded them last Wednesday and destroyed buildings, cars, shops, and wares worth millions.
“A total of 10 story buildings and 30 vehicles were burned down by the hoodlums. The hoodlums also inflicted bodily injuries on residents during the attack.
“The problem started when we refused to continue to pay multiple levies to them. In the layout, we have over 10,000 stores and every quarter of the month we are forced to pay N10,000 mandatory levies to them. We pay N10,000 for every store.
“In fact, we now pay them for anything we do in houses we build with our own hard-earned money.
“We have reported the matter to the police authorities and the State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Community Matters, Hon. Tony Collins Nwabunwanne, for prompt action, but up till this moment, no positive response has been made.
“So we are calling on the state government to help us look into the matter and find an actionable way of resolving the issue.”
Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who addressed the protesters, condemned the incident, ordering that anyone involved in the act be apprehended and brought to book.
Soludo, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, assured the protesters that government would intervene.
