Former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia state, Prince Paul Ikonne, has condemned in strong words the actions of Governor Alex Otti’s appointees who, under the guise of market leadership, have turned Aba markets into centers of intimidation, extortion, and unchecked harassment.
Prince Ikonne expressed deep worry over the untold hardship traders in Ariaria and other major markets in Aba are currently facing in the hands of these government-backed enforcers. According to him, the governor’s appointees have weaponized taxation, turning a lawful civic responsibility into a brutal tool of oppression.
In a statement released Monday in Abuja by his Chief Press Secretary, Dr. Ujo Justice, Ikonne recalled how Governor Otti, during campaigns, criticized the ₦18,000 levy imposed by the former administration as “too high” and promised drastic reduction. Shockingly, upon assuming office, the same governor inflated the levy to an outrageous ₦36,000, pushing thousands of struggling traders into deeper economic misery.
Prince Ikonne said that traders who can barely afford their daily survival are now confronted with an impossible choice: pay the inflated levy or lose their only source of livelihood.
According to reports from the markets, government enforcers now move under the cover of night to seal shops of traders who have not paid the new high levy. By morning, affected traders are forced to either pay or face even harsher consequences. Those who attempt to unseal their shops by themselves are met with coercion, assault, and brutalization from a combined force of government-recruited thugs, police, and even naval personnel. In many cases, traders are re-arrested, their shops re-sealed, and they are forced to pay as much as ₦45,000.
“This is not governance; this is tyranny,” Prince Ikonne declared. “How can a governor who receives over 30 billion naira in monthly federal allocations turn around to strangulate ordinary traders struggling to feed their families? What exactly does Governor Otti want from the meagre earnings of the common man?”
He emphasized that while tax policies must be humane, fair, and considerate of the prevailing economic difficulties faced by citizens. When taxation becomes a political weapon—arbitrary, excessive, and enforced with violence—it becomes unbearable and unacceptable.
Prince Ikonne further argues “ I am worried that the present Abia state government has normalized the sealing of shops, properties, indiscriminate arrests, court summons, and humiliating treatment of Abians whose only crime is their inability to meet oppressive and inflated levies”.
“The rate of molestation and intimidation by agents of this government is alarming,” he stated. “No democratic society should subject its citizens to such cruelty. Governor Otti must remember that leadership is about service, not punishment.”
He called on Ndi Aba, Ndi Abia, and all well-meaning Nigerians to stand firm against what he described as a worsening pattern of anti-people policies. He urged Otti to immediately halt the nocturnal sealing of shops, withdraw security operatives from markets, and review the draconian levies imposed on traders.
Prince Ikonne concluded by reminding the governor that him is not licensed to impoverish, intimidate, or silence traders, but an opportunity to ease burdens and improve their welfare.
