Market women appeal to Oshiomhole over alleged extortion.

Market women who sell goods around the King's Square axis of Benin City have appealed to the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to save them from alleged extortionists.

The women alleged in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Benin that the extortionists usually operated in the night.

According to one of the women, who sells banana in front of the popular Bob Izua Park on Oba Market Road, she spends N350 daily to settle the "area boys".

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the money was paid to three groups daily, with N300 going to two groups at the rate of N150 each, while the remaining N50 was paid to another group.

"If you refuse to pay the money, they will destroy your wares," she alleged.

Another woman, who sells apples and oranges, made the same claim of daily payments to these unidentified groups.

NAN reports that street trading is banned within the King's Square area, while wares of violators are seized and released by the government after payment of prescribed fines.

According to a NAN investigation, the "area boys" capitalise on the ban within the area to extort money from the traders.

The women, therefore, appealed to the governor to intervene, saying that they displayed their wares on the road only in the night and this could not cause any traffic hold-up.

They also said that they decided to trade in the night because they lacked permanent shops.

Source:
http://urlred.com/OzDo2