‘Pure water’ hawkers’ protest shuts down Benin, as traders storm Delta council headquarters over illegal levies

While hundreds of angry hawkers of sachet water (popularly called ‘pure water’), Thursday, took to the streets of Benin City, the Edo state capital, to protest the sudden hike in the price of the product by the distributors in the state, those in Asaba market, in Delta State, stormed a council headquarters to protest illegal levies.
The ‘pure water’ hawkers at the end of the protest march to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Edo state Council and the Government House in Benin City complained about the sudden hike in the price of ‘pure water’ from the initial rate of N100 to N150 per bag.
They implored the state government and other relevant authorities to come to their aid as, according to them, they can no longer sustain their families with the meagre gains that accrue from it at the end of the day under the present price hike.
It was learnt that the hike in the price per bag and consequent increase in the price of a sachet of ‘pure water’ may not be unconnected with the recent rise in the rate of one dollar to naira which has also affected the prices of most products in the market.
Members of the group lamented further that the increase would further worsen their plight as they are daily made to part with N50 per hawker in the hands of revenue officials in Oredo council area even as they make only about N30 to N50 from each bag as gain.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Mrs. Mercy Osunobu said “We buy the water to sell at one hundred naira but they said now that the price is N150. And we cannot sell the pure water at N150. We sell at N20 and people said they cannot buy at that rate and they have refused to tell us why they increased the rate per bag. ”
She also complained that the members are taxed N50 daily by taskforce on revenue for hawking the ‘pure water’ within the markets and along major streets and roads.
Also complaining, Mrs. Mercy Igharo who hawks ‘pure water’ along Saint Saviour area in Ikpoba Okha council area disclosed that she has been into the petty business since December last year and uses the proceeds to fend for her little daughter in junior secondary school in the state.
She explained that the water distributors resolved in January to increase the price per bag and effected that decision at the end of a meeting by the manufacturers and their distributors which held at the premises of the University of Benin.
Igharo bitterly complained that the pure water manufacturers have jerked up the price of the product because of the exchange rate of a dollar to naira which has made it impossible for local producers to meet up with cost of production.
Meanwhile, aggrieved traders at the popular Ogbeogonogo Market, Asaba, Delta State, Thursday, protested what they described as illegal levies imposed on them by some person who claimed to be Oshimili South Local Government Council Taskforce officials.
This is as the council boss, Mr. Chuks Obossom, dismissed their protest as frivolous, insisting that the market revenue collection had been contracted to a financial firm, Osaji & Co.
The protesters chanting war songs, caused traffic grid lock along Nnebisi Road, Asaba, for several hours before matching towards the State Government House, Awai Road, where they were addressed by the secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ovie Festus Agas.
The financial firm, Osaji & Co had allegedly increased the traders’ daily payment from N150.00 to N500.00, an increase that resulted in the protest.
One of the protesters, Mark Okoli, said, “We are protesting the levies, it is illegal, we used to pay N150.00, what are we selling? We will resist the increase, it is illegal.”
Agas, however, appealed to the protesters to exercise restraint as the state government would find a lasting solution to the situation.