AKWA IBOM, AUGUST 5, 2015 – Commercial motorcyclists in Eket Local Government Area, under the aegis of the Akwa Ibom Professional Commercial Motorcyclists Association (APCOMA), on Friday protested an increase in emblem and ticket charges in the state.APCOMA said that the protest was necessary because of excessive charges by the task force set up by the State Government.
The protesters marched along major streets in Eket, headquarters of the Eket Local Government Area, blocked major streets in the town and later converged at the Council Secretariat.
A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria, who monitored the protest, reported that the protesters used their motorcycles to disrupt vehicular movement along the Eket-Oron road, Udua Effiong Etuk and other major streets in Eket and its environs.
Mr Joshua Okon, a commercial motorcyclist, decried the attitude of the tax force towards APCOMA in Eket and its environs, saying that there was no justification for the increase in the emblem and ticket charges.
“Last year, the ticket was N50 but all of a sudden, they doubled it to N100 and three types of emblems are on sale, whether you own a commercial motorcycle or not, provided you are driving a bike.
“They increased the cost of the emblems to N1, 000 for each of the three emblems, and even when you are not a commercial motorcyclist, you will be asked to buy the emblems,’’ Okon said.
He explained that the money collected from APCOMA should ordinarily be used to repair the deplorable roads in Eket, but there is just nothing to show for it in Eket and its environs.
“If you go to Eket local government area, none of the roads is motorable, but we are all still paying our taxes.
“We should pay our taxes so that government can use the money to construct roads for us, but we have nothing to show for such citizenship obligations,’’ he lamented.
Okon, therefore, urged the state government to stop the sales of emblems since the local government cannot spend the money accruing from APCOMA members to maintain inner city roads in Eket and its environs.
He called on the state government to intervene in the matter, saying that the situation was capable of compounding the economic hardships faced by the people.
Another commercial motorcyclist, Mr Akpan Moses, said the sudden increase in the charges had affected their business negatively.
Moses noted that the task force set up by the state government had outrageously increased their ticket and emblem charges.
He recalled that one of their members was recently assaulted, which resulted into a serious injury on his head.
“We want the state government to come to our aid and eliminate ticket and emblem charges in the local government as is now being done in Oron local government area.
“There is so much tax enforcement in Eket in the name of collecting tickets, and we are tired of the whole thing here,’’ Moses said.
Responding, Mr Frank Archibong, the transitional Chairman of Eket Local Government Area, confirmed that the State Ministry of Transport had ordered APCOMA to collect tolls from bike operators in Eket and its environs.
“The committee set up by the Council went about their lawful business to collect the daily tolls but they were hindered from that by members of APCOMA.
“But to avoid a breakdown of law and order and find an amicable resolution, I quickly consulted with my colleague Chairmen from other local governments.
“We met with the Commissioner who said there should be a stay in the collection of the levies by the tax force, until we were able to resolve the issues,’’ he said.
Archibong added that some security personnel were deployed to the area to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
However, reports that the APCOMA Executive, Council Officials, the Divisional Police Officer in Eket and other Security officials had met behind closed doors at the council secretariat on Thursday over the development.
