. AUCHI – Motor bike riders in Etsako West Local Government area under the aegis of Afemai Bike Riders Association defied the early morning down pour to protest what they called illegal collection of ticket revenue by the council authorities.

The protest is coming on the heels of yet to be resolved crisis between private motor park operators in the locality and the council over alleged imposition of additional tax, a situation that compelled threats of litigation against the council. The association had alleged arbitrary collections of union and council tickets of N60 (sixty naira) per day described as over taxation by the council as against the usual N20 (twenty naira) daily payment.

President of the body, Comrade Haruna Momoh Igbineghu who spoke with The NIGERIAN OBSERVER explained that the local council refused to stop the collection despite the governor’s directive to that effect sometime ago.

Describing it as illegal, the Union President contended that the collection was peculiar to Etsako West and urged the state government to call the council to order.

He explained that the association had dialogued severally with the council officials over the matter but failed to see reason alleging that they insisted that the governor had no power to direct the council on what to do. Haruna Igbineghu had therefore appealed to the Governor to intervene in the controversy likely to cause breach of peace in the area.

The peaceful protest march designed to alert the authorities and the public according to the protesters, took them in large numbers to the police and the traditional rulers in the locality who advised against violence assuring that the matter would be looked into.

Reacting to the development, Vice Chairman of the Council, Hon. Jimoh Omogbai refuted in very strong terms, the allegation by the association’s President that the council was not ready to take orders from the state governor adding that no one had the right to contravene directives.

Omogbai explained that the agreed amount as the council’s bike revenue to be collected on its behalf according to the bye-law remained N30 (thirty naira) and not N60 as alleged.

He disclosed that the problem was not in the collection but leadership tussle between the two parallel unions in the area, the Edo State Commercial Bike Riders Association (ESCOBRA) and the Afemai Bike Riders Association who he observed were at logger head over the revenue collection.