Residents Decry Multiple Levies In Aba

Residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, have decried the multiple levies said to have been imposed on them by the state government.

Some of the residents told newsmen in Aba that they were subjected to paying all kinds of levies.

Mr Mathias Okolo, a businessman, said the levies included the ones for infrastructure ( N10,000), business premises ( N6,000), operation permit ( N6.000), and pollution and sanitation (N5000).

He said payments were also made for clearing of gutter, refuse disposal, store licence, liquor licence and hawkers’ permit.

Mrs Joy Ukaonu, a resident, said the state Ministry of Environment issues a notice for the payment of N300 per room to “scoop drainage and cart away the refuse’’.

Mr Solomon Ogunji, the Commissioner for Environment told newsmen in Aba that no such notice emanated from the ministry.

Ogunji said that some agencies had been contracted to de-silt the drainage and cart away the refuse in the state.

He explained that the agencies would start collecting money from the people after successful conduct of the exercise for one month, adding that the state had been divided into compartments with Aba securing 17 and Umuahia ,15, for the exercise.

Ogunji disclosed said that the state recently got N1.7billion from the ecological fund to tackle three erosion sites with N50million counterpart funding from Abia.

He blamed the poor state of roads in the state, especially, Aba, on blocked drains.

In another development, the police in Abia have arrested one person in connection with last week’s gang rape which allegedly took place at Abia State University, Uturu.

Mr Bala Hasan, the Police Commissioner in Abia, who disclosed this in a telephone interview with  newsmen in Umuahia, said the suspect was arrested at Uturu on Friday.

It will be recalled that a video clip posted on the Internet since August 6, shows five young men gang raping a lady.

The voices from the video claimed that the rape took place at Abia State University and that the lady and the five men that raped her were students of the university.

At a press briefing shortly after the video was released, officials of the university and Abia State government denied that the crime took place within the university premises or anywhere in the state.

Hasan, who failed to disclose the name for security reasons, said the suspect was picked up in connection with the rape.

He gave the assurance that the police were still intensifying efforts to track down all those involved in the heinous crime.

When contacted, Mr Acho Elendu, the Public Relations Officer of Abia State University, said he was not aware of the arrest.

“You know this is weekend and I am not within the university now. If the police arrested anybody in connection with the rape, it is not to my knowledge and no official of the university or the police informed me either,’’ he said.