Traders decry ‘exorbitant’ levies in Monday market

Mrs Ezinne Caroline Mbamara, the Chairperson of a coalition of market women drawn from Monday, Gamboru, Baga, Gwoza and Abbaganaram markets said, “In the past, two or three years, traders in sheds paid  N50 each but last year the foodstuff traders under a shed paid N20,000 and we do not know what we would pay […]

Mrs Ezinne Caroline Mbamara, the Chairperson of a coalition of market women drawn from Monday, Gamboru, Baga, Gwoza and Abbaganaram markets said, “In the past, two or three years, traders in sheds paid  N50 each but last year the foodstuff traders under a shed paid N20,000 and we do not know what we would pay this year.

The huge levy imposed on us is affecting us because apart from the annual levy, we still pay tax. With all my years of experience as a market trader, there is no place that I know where market women pay such outrageous levies.” She added, “Previously, I paid N420 in three months for my two stalls but now, each month is N1,000, totaling N12,000 per annum as against N1,680, while permanent stalls pay N700 monthly. We have cried many times to the authorities, but they would not listen to us. We want government to assist us in reducing the levies and taxes so that we can help ourselves.”

Madam Mary Kalu said she had been selling ugwu, egusi, bitter leaf, ogbono and other cooking ingredients for over 15 years now. According to her, “the prices of food ingredients are so high and people cannot afford to buy them. I pay N40,000 annually for my two sheds. Two years ago, I paid N15,000 for the same sheds.

The rent is too high and at times I cannot pay the school fees of my children because of the rent. I have six children and I am responsible for the upkeep of all of them, three of which are in secondary school. The school fees of the first daughter is N8,000 per term and if combined with the extra lessons, I find it very difficult to meet up with their fees and pay my shop rent when due. At times, almost nothing is left for our feeding.”

In his view, Shettima Malari, a temporary stall owner who sells sugar, milk, tea and other household items at the foodstuffs shed section said he rented a shop at an “exorbitant” rate of N100,000 while his capital was  less than N50,000. “All we want the government to do is return our shops back. We are not asking for anything more even though our property was destroyed. My elder brother’s son lost a shop which he bought for N1.5 million with genuine documents certified by the market task force about three weeks to the demolition.” he noted.

Reacting on behalf of the Maiduguri Monday Market Company Limited, the Personal Assistant to the General Manager, Mohammed Alhaji Mukhtar said the traders were inconsiderate. “The market authorities have increased the rents because while the market was collecting N800 from the traders per shed (slab) space annually, it discovered that most of the traders rented out the same spaces to other traders for between N50,000 and N100,000.

And to think that since the market was established in 1985, shop and slab rents were only reviewed by about 80 percent in 1990; and a year ago, by 200 percent,” he said, adding that the increase was not intended to make life unbearable to the traders but to deter them from exploiting one another and make government the beneficiary of its investment.