Butchers in Ekiti State yesterday trooped out in large number to protest against the imposition of new tax and forcible closure of all abattoirs by the Governor Ayo Fayose administration.
Government had imposed a tax of N1,000 on each cow slaughtered in the state but the butchers refused to pay the new tax which they described as “exorbitant and outrageous.”
Apart from the new tax of N1,000 jerked up from N300 per cow, the butchers also claimed that they are paying veterinary tax, inspection rate and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) levy.
The angry butchers said the new tax which, according to them, would see each butcher paying at least N26,000 in a month could kill their businesses
The state government has however shut down all abattoirs in the state following the refusal of butchers to pay the new tax.
Tension had mounted since Thursday following a radio announcement by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Kehinde Odebunmi, that all abattoirs would be shut down following the resistance of the butchers to pay the new tax and that any butcher caught operating illegal abattoirs is liable to a fine of N20,000.
Led by the Chairman of Butchers Association in Ado Ekiti Local Government, Alhaji Mustapha Kareem, the protesters who held leaves and chanted war songs stormed the abattoir as early as 6.30 am but they met a detachment of armed policemen who prevented them from occupying the place.
The butchers who were denied access to the Ado Ekiti Main Abattoir along Iworoko Road stayed some meters away from the junction of Radio Nigeria Progress 100.5 FM vowed to force the place open tomorrow and slaughter cows if government fails to accede to their demands.
Kareem disclosed that they had met with Fayose to reconsider the new tax and suggested N500 but the governor rejected. He added that abattoirs in nearby states don’t pay as high as N1,000.
“It is too much and it will affect what we sell to the public. We suggested N500 to the governor but he refused. Members of the public will bear the brunt, people will suffer and those that want to celebrate occasions will be affected.
“We urge the governor to accommodate N500 tax instead of the N1,000 because we believe N500 is reasonable and it is the consumers that will suffer most.”
The effect of the closure of the abattoirs is already being felt as many consumers searched in vain for meat.
Addressing reporters on the development, Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Ayodele Michael, said the new tax was aimed at providing better facilities at all the abattoirs in the state.
Ayodele said government held meetings with the butchers before the new tax was arrived at to generate more revenue and make the abattoirs more conducive to business.
Commissioner for Information, Youth and Sports Development, Lanre Ogunsuyi, said N1,000 tax per cow is not too much, regretting that facilities at public abattoirs had fallen into state of disrepair.
Ogunsuyi said government would not succumb to blackmail and intimidation adding that the new tax and other levies recently imposed in the state were done in public interest and not intended to make life difficult for the citizens.