Chaos In Computer Village Over New Levies By Tinubu’s Daughter

There has been unrest at the ICT hub, Computer Village, Ikeja in Lagos State following a new rule and levy imposed on traders by the new leadership of the market, Naija News learnt.

According to reports, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, better known as the Iyaloja General a daughter to APC chieftain, Bola Tinubu had in last year introduced a new rule on the hub, despite the rejection of her leadership from traders in the market.

Naija News received that a coalition of 18 trade unions in the popular market had staged a protest on Monday, June 8 over an alleged imposition of illegal levies on traders by the leader, leading to the shutting down of the market.

Speaking on the development, the spokesperson for the coalition of trade unions in the ICT hub, Nonso Bethel, revealed that the new leaders imposed on the market had displaced the existing rules and regulations in the hub, introduced new rules which include paying some levies.

He added that some hoodlums loyal to the new leadership had commenced charging traders outrageous sums.

He said, “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 ₦2,000. But if you used a truck, they will collect ₦5,000,”

Nonso added, “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 ₦1,000 every month.”

“Outside of this, we pay income tax, corporate 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 ₦1,000 and ₦1,500 on a daily basis,” said the spokesman of the trade union.

Further reports revealed that a gate erected in the market by the trade union has been brought down by the hoodlums with claims that the new Iyaloja was not informed before embarking on the project.

However, two persons have been arrested during the chaos on Monday, Naija News understands.

Efforts to communicate with the Iyaloja general, however, proved abortive as she could not be reached via her phone lines.