Some female plank sellers in Ikire, Irewola Local Government Area of Osun State, yesterday protested against alleged multiple taxation and extortion by agents of the state government.
They said their businesses had suffered a setback as a result of what they called “fraudulent activities” of the government agents.
Their spokesperson, Modele Bose, said the taxes imposed on them were too much, alleging that government agents were making life difficult for them.
They appealed to Governor Rauf Aregbesola to reverse the taxes.
Modele said: “The taxes are too much. We can no longer bear it. From N2, 000 that we were paying before, they are now collecting over N20, 000 from us. This is not fair. We want the governor to know about this and reverse it.”
Reacting , the Special Adviser to the Governor on Natural Resources, Tunde Ajilore, dismissed the allegations, saying there were no fixed taxes.
He said the plank sellers were charged based on the number of trees they fell. He accused them of perpetrating illegality by felling trees without following due process.
