Anambra landlords oppose multiple levies, seek govt intervention

Landlords in Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State, have opposed about what they see as “multiple levies” that unauthorised revenue collectors have demanded from them.

Speaking on behalf of the Fegge Landlords Association, they bemoaned the daily invasion of their community by touts and revenue collectors posing as state employees in order to collect development, property, and sanitation levies.

The spokesman of the association, Chief Ignatius Agabarugo, who spoke on behalf of the group, made the lamentations at the local government secretariat on Tuesday, during an interactive forum with the deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr Onyekachukwu Ibezim.

Agabarugo said, the association is ready to cooperate with the state government in the area of ending these extortions that have become a menace.

He noted that the extortions of landlords by touts and illegal revenue collectors have become unbearable.

“Whenever a landlord is carrying out any renovation on his building, the touts will come to demand for various amount of money”.

Mr. Agabarugo urged the state government to look into multiple taxations which has been a rip-off on the landlords.”

In response, Onyekachukwu Ibezim, the deputy governor, promised to help the landlords, but noted that most houses in Onitsha lack soak away pits, and those that do channel the pits into the Sakamori drainage system and Nwangene River, posing health risks to residents.

Ibezim stated that the purpose of the interactive forum was to educate residents and landlords on the importance of not channeling their soak away pits into the community’s drainages and river channels, a development that he believes reflects poorly on the largest commercial town in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The state Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odumegwu, noted that the main thrust of the meeting with the landlords was to sensitize them on the need to be clearing their drains, planting trees, as well as painting their buildings.

He noted that there is a law by the state Assembly on those issues, adding that the state government cannot use the big stick now but would engage the stakeholders before taking actions against defaulters.

Chief Emeka Orji, Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area, revealed that in the last year, his government has been able to enforce cleanliness and remove unlawful constructions and stores placed on top of culverts.

Orji claimed that the council area would stop at nothing to restore Onitsha’s standing, and that there would be no sacred cows since anyone who broke the law would face the consequences.

Arch Mike Okonkwo, Chairman of the Urban Regeneration Council, stated that the state government intends to emulate what is seen in industrialized countries, putting Onitsha on the global map of cities with an enabling environment for business and healthy living.