The Nation Newspaper

Tag: urge

  • Ibadan residents urge Oyo CP to probe alleged misconduct of policemen

    The Oyo State Police Commissioner(CP), Mr Mohammed Katsina, has been petitioned over an alleged misconduct among his officers in the state .

    Police officers were accused of conniving with one Alhaji Lanlokun Odejobi to frustrate the residents of over 28 villages who have been facing traumatic experience in the hands of sponsored thugs .

    The petition came on the heels of a renewed attack by thugs on the residents of Omi Adio in Ido Local Government of Oyo state .

    In the petition written by two  of the victims of the attacks , Mr Olaide Kazeem and Kolade Orisadimu , the police officers at Apata and Iyagankun police divisions were accused of collecting acres of land as gift from one Alhaji Lanlokun Odejobi to intimidate residents of the area .

    Kazeem lost one of his eyes  ,while Orisadimu sustained  machete cuts on his body .

    Kazeem said he was in his house in the early hours of Tuesday at Omi Adio when about six armed men came and whisked him away to another location.He saidm the hoodlums were armed with clubs, cutlasses, iron rods and guns .

    Orisadimu who said about 13 people were injured after the attack explained that the thugs came with two Liteace buses and several Okadas to the site where he was attacked .

    “After the attack on Tuesday , the two victims were taken to Iyaganku Police Station by the thugs , but instead of asking the injured to go for medical attention, they were thrown into the cell where they stayed for two days  without any attempt by the police to hear from the victims.

    “After we were released on the payment of N5000 each to the police officers, we were asked to report back on Thursday but to our surprise none of the thugs who attacked us turned up . The action of the police on the matter which has been occurring since 2013 and which they (police) had a good history was understandable. Alhaji Odejobi has shared acres of land as gift to some of the officers so that he can be getting a good support from the police. “

    According to Odejobi who spoke with The Nation , the land being claimed was conquered by his great fore fathers who fought on the Ibadan and Egba war of 1920s.

    But his claim was punctured by the Ekerin Olubadan of Ibadanland, High Chief Edward Oyewole who stated that Odejobi was only been dubious.

    High Chief Oyewole had few weeks ago  written the Oyo state governor Abiola Ajimobi through his lawyer Chief Adeniyi Akintola SAN to order Odejobi and his thugs to stop harassing residents of the affected areas to prevent bloodbath in the state.

  • Civil Defence, NGO urge peaceful elections in Bayelsa

    THE Bayelsa State arm of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and civil society organisations have urged politicians to ensure that the general elections are peaceful.

    NSCDC Commandant Desmond Agu and the Project Director, Search for Common Ground, Mr. Chika Emeh, assembled representatives of security agencies, politicians, civil society groups, students, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), students, state government officials and youth groups at the Banquet Hall in Yenagoa to discuss the need for a violent-free elections.

    The seminar tagged, “The benefits of violence-fee elections, a panacea for national development”, drew discussants from all walks of life. Governor  Seriake Dickson, who declared the discussion open, was represented by his deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd).

    Dickson said Nigeria has always been at the mercy of pre and post election violence. He said there was need for a change of attitude adding that destruction has never produced good results in any society. He deplored do-or-die politics and said in any election only one person will emerge the winner.

    Agu said it was the duty of all  to seek security for environment, lives and property in any electoral period.

    “The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps being a major stakeholder has taken the bold step to call together all the interest groups in electoral process in Nigeria and Bayelsa State in particular to enlighten and sensitise them on peace and violence-free elections,” he said.

    The representative of INEC, Mr. Victor Akpoete, said a free, fair and peaceful election would lead to a responsive government.

    He noted that for peace to be possible, many organisations must play critical roles.

    He said INEC had established a process of eliminating factors capable of triggering violence after studying the causes of the 2011 post-election violence. He said the first step taken by INEC to ensure a credible election was the cleaning of the national voters’ register to eliminate multiple registration. “We now have a register hat will make votes count”, he said.

    One of the discussants and Chairman of the state’s chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Chief Nengi James, said manipulation of elections by agents of government was the main cause of violence in the past.

  • Northern governors urge Nigerians to seek peace

    Northern governors urge Nigerians to seek peace

    THE Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has urged Nigerians to pursue the search for peace.

    It stressed that it was only in building on the culture of peace that meaningful socio-economic development could be guaranteed in the new year.

    Chairman of the forum and Niger State Governor Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, who said this, explained that irrespective of religious, political or ideological differences, people must support genuine efforts aimed at ensuring that the conduct of general elections is successful and devoid of needless bickering capable of threatening the nation’s corporate existence.

    Aliyu, in a statement in Minna yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Israel Ebije, said the new year would be a crucial year for the country.

    He enjoined Nigerians to enter the year with renewed hopes, stressing that the citizens could not afford to miss out in numerous opportunities that the new year has to offer.

    The forum also called on politicians to play politics according to the rules of the game and shun acts capable of plunging the country into avoidable crisis.

    According to the group, the unity and developmental aspirations of Nigeria are sacrosanct.

    The statement reads: “We must all make sure that the elections are devoid of violence. All hands must be on deck. The electoral body and other critical establishments connected to the elections must be ready to go extra miles in the execution of their respective assignments.

    “We also expect security agencies to subject their personnel to necessary pre-election monitoring trainings and programmes.”

    Aliyu prayed for a prosperous and fruitful new year, urging everybody to be prayerful and law-abiding.

    “It is indeed instructive for politicians to desist from overheating the polity with inciting comments, hate speech as well as blackmail. We should think of what benefits the entire country than what individuals stand to gain. This is the only country we can call our own. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that things go on well.

    “Undoubtedly, Nigeria is on the verge of attaining greatness beginning from this very year. Those who think the nation won’t survive the general elections should be ready to bury their heads in shame.

    “Nigeria will not only survive the election year, but it will become more peaceful and generally safe”.

  • Workers urge domestication of ILO protocol

    The Textile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN) has urged the Federal Government to ensure that the new global protocol against forced labour is given attention.

    The protocol, which was adopted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, is aimed at accelerating action against modern slavery.

    Its National President, Comrade Ambi Karu, made the declaration while interacting with reporters on how the protocol has put other world leaders on the spot in efforts to combat forced labour which is rampant in the private sector.

    He said: “We are very comfortable with the new ILO Protocol on forced labour that will put the government of member-states of the ILO on the alert. This is because the private sector is responsible for 90 per cent of the estimated 21 million victims of forced labour, reaping about $150 billion from some of the most severe forms of exploitation in existence.”

    According to Karu, the call became necessary to prevent jobless youths from being exploited by the political class to create political crisis in the country as the nation prepares for this year’s general elections.

    “We are more comfortable because over 92 per cent of employers and workers’ delegates at the  ILO conference voted in favour of the protocol, which the ILO described as bringing one of its longest-standing instruments, Convention 29, into the modern era.

    “We are optimistic that the new ILO protocol, if taken seriously by the three tiers of government will revitalise action to ending forced labour, especially in the textile and garment industry, as the new rule will put those who make money from anti-workers’activities on notice,” he said.

  • Checking an insatiable urge

    Checking an insatiable urge

    To check banks’ insatiable urge for funds, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pegged their Tier-II capital to 33.3 per cent of their Tier-I capital. Tier-I is a company’s total capital outlay before it seeks additional fund; Tier-II is supplementary capital. Will banks comply with CBN’s directive or will they continue to do it their own way? COLLINS NWEZE writes.

    It has become an insatiable urge. At every  turn, banks seek capital and more capital. There is nothing they would not do to get capital. To check this insatiable urge, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive on how far a bank can go in raising Tier II Capital, otherwise called supplementary capital.

    In the last one year, more than six banks have approached local and international investors in search of new capital. Access Bank Plc sold $400 million of subordinated notes in June. FirstBank of Nigeria sold $450 million of bonds on July 18.

    Stanbic IBTC, the Nigerian unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, plans to raise up to N30 billion in Tier II capital. Diamond Bank is also in search of N50.4 billion to boost its operations. Sterling Bank has also raised funds, so were Wema Bank and Ecobank. The list is endless.

    Stanbic IBTC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mrs Sola David-Borha told Reuters the actual amount would depend on market conditions and regulatory guidelines. She did not provide a timeline.

    Mrs David-Borha said the mid-tier lender was aiming for a 15 per cent loan growth for the second-half of this year, targeting business customers, after it grew loans 18 per cent in the first-half.

    Also, Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI)’s unit in Nigeria sold $200 million of dated subordinated notes due in 2021. The issuance has a yield of nine per cent and a coupon of 8.75 per cent. Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Plc were the lead managers.

    Diamond Bank Plc needs the new capital to improve its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and boost its growth. The bank, which has released details of its rights issue on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and its website, will issue 8,685,145,863 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N5.80/share. Qualification date for the rights issue was June 13.

    On the bank’s capital raising, Renaissance Capital (RenCap), an investment and research firm, said the rights issue which opened last week is expected to close on August 26.

    “We view this as a step in the right direction by Diamond, the fastest-growing Nigerian bank over the past three years, and recommend qualifying investors should take up their rights. The bank grew total assets by 155 per cent between 2010 and 2013. Delivering such impressive growth, despite its capital constraints and recording two consecutive years of 23 per cent Return on Equity 2012 and 2013. We find this remarkable,” it said in a report titled: ”Diamond Bank – Time for the rights”.

    RenCap said the lender needed capital to support the next phase of its strategic growth plan, adding that the bank could achieve a loan growth of 20 per cent this year. The feat, it said, could be maintained over the next two years to 2016, with deposit growth coming in higher at 25 to 30 per cent over the period.

     

    The CBN policy

    In a circular to banks, CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision Mrs. Tokunbo Martins said, henceforth, total Tier II capital, including Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) Reserves is limited to 33.33 per cent of total Tier I capital.

    Tier II capital is supplementary bank capital that includes items, such as revaluation reserves, undisclosed reserves, hybrid instruments and subordinated term debt. A bank’s reserve requirements include its Tier II capital in its calculation, but it is considered less reliable than its Tier I capital.

    The CBN Director also said lenders are required to note that “unaudited OCI gains will not be recognised as part of capital while unaudited OCI losses shall be deducted from the institution’s capital in arriving at total qualifying capital”.

    The circular, titled: “Exclusion of Non-Distributable Regulatory Reserve and Other Reserves in the Computation of Regulatory Capital of Banks and Discount Houses”, said the policy is part of the ongoing reforms by the CBN aimed at ensuring more prudent assessment of the regulatory capital of Nigerian banks.

    It is also in line with global efforts aimed at raising the quality and loss absorbency of the capital base of banks. The regulator said the Regulatory Risk Reserve created pursuant to Section 12.4 (a) of the Prudential Guidelines which was effective on July 1, 2010 will henceforth be excluded from regulatory capital for the purposes of capital adequacy assessment.

    Also, collective impairment on loans and receivables and other financial assets will henceforth not form part of Tier 2 capital while OCI Reserves will be recognised as part of Tier 2 capital subject to the limits set in the CBN Guidance Notes on the Calculation of Regulatory Capital.

    He said the provisions of this circular supersede the provisions of S. 12.4 (b) of the Prudential Guidelines as well as S. 2 of our Guidance Notes on the Calculation of Regulatory Capital.

     

    Power, oil exploration top business target

    Analysts said the banks are raising money to help fund power, oil exploration and manufacturing projects.

    The World Bank, CBN and other local and international lenders have also showed renewed commitment to power sector funding in Nigeria.

    The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele included in his agenda for the financial sector and economy, a blueprint for the power sector. He called for improved investments inflow into the power sector from both local and international lenders to solve the power crisis.

    Emefiele said the CBN will facilitate investment in key parts of the value chain by providing funds at concessionary rates to targeted investments in the power sector. “We will encourage investment in the gas to power infrastructure to improve the reliability of supply of gas to the existing and new power plants. We will also support investments in renewable energy in rural areas through matching funds schemes, and providing first loss guarantees,” he said.

    He said some of the CBN’s developmental functions will include credit allocations and direct interventions in key sectors of the economy such as power, agriculture, Medium and Small Enterprise (MSME), oil & gas, and health sectors of the economy.

    Also, the Board of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved an African Development Fund (ADF) Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) programme of $184.2 million to support Nigeria power sector privatisation. It also provided an ADF loan of $3.1 million, for capacity building for the country.

    The Director of the AfDB’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, Alex Rugamba, said the PRG programme in Nigeria would increase the country’s electricity generation by catalysing private sector investment and commercial financing in the power sector through the provision of PRGs.

    “The PRGs will mitigate the risk of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), a Federal Government of Nigeria entity established to purchase electricity from independent power producers (IPPs), not fulfilling its contractual obligations under its power purchase agreements with eligible IPPs. This in turn will increase the comfort level of private sector financiers and commercial lenders investing in the Nigerian power sector privatisation programme,” he said.

     

    Local lenders dig in

    Mrs David-Borha said Stanbic IBTC Bank was committed to partnerships that would help energise the power sector. The bank’s chief also disclosed that through partnerships, financing would be available for off-grid solutions that rely on cleaner fuels such as biomass and biogas across Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Another lender, Ecobank Nigeria said it would invest $25 billion in five years to help solve Nigeria’s power sector crisis. Ecobank Country Head, Power & Energy, Olufunke Jones said the investment is in line with its policy to support the growth and development of the power sector in Nigeria.

    She said it had played a major role on the buy-side of the power sector privatisation  by providing financial advisory services, lead arranger role, acquisitioning financing and guarantees to Distribution Companies (DISCOS), Generating Companies (GENCOS) and National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP).

    She said: “Nigeria has one of the largest gaps between demand and supply for electricity. To bridge this gap the country requires a combination of favorable government policies, private sector participation and FDI as well as transparency and persistent monitoring that will guarantee an improved business environment.”

    Likewise, the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) said it had so far extended $700 million, about N113 billion, in funding to different investors to acquire power assets in the privatised power sector. The bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Oduoza said: “It is a growth sector we are playing very big.”

    Zenith Bank Plc said it expects to increase loans to the privatised power companies. The lender said loans to the power sector may rise to 10 per cent of the bank’s loan book by year-end, up from 4.3 per cent in the third quarter and 1.3 per cent at the end of June, last year.

     

    Debt for power funding

    Banks have also drawn huge funds from the bond market to fund power projects. Four Nigerian banks raised $1.45billion in the last three years through Eurobonds to assist them in meeting their power sector funding obligations, Debt Management Office (DMO) Director-General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, said.

    The banks are Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and FirstBank. GTBank issued $500 million, while Access Bank issued $350 million. Fidelity Bank and FirstBank issued $300 million Eurobonds each. Nwankwo said the funds will be instrumental in helping Nigeria meet its infrastructural needs especially power.

  • Traders urge FG to improve workers’ welfare

    Traders urge FG to improve workers’ welfare

    Some traders in Nasarawa State over the weekend urged the federal and state governments to improve on workers welfare to boost the country’s socio-economic development.

    They made the call in separate interviews with the  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.

    The traders said that improved workers welfare would also ensure the improvement of the standard of living of traders and those not working with the government.

    A recharge card dealer, Miss Esther Luka, said that it was important to improve on the workers welfare as a way of boosting business activities in the country.

    “Improved workers welfare will not only improve on the standard of living of the working-class, it will also boosts business activities, the revenue base of the country and socio-economic development.

    “Sincerely, when workers salaries and others incentives improve, the businessmen and women will also enjoy because our business activities will also improve.

    “Take for instance, the implementation of the minimum wage has boosted my recharge card business because workers now buy more cards daily,” she said

    Luka called on the government at all levels to further improve on the workers welfare for the overall development of the country.

    She appealed to the governments to support traders in the country through soft loans to boost their businesses.

    Another businessman, Mr Anzaku Adigizi, also agreed that improved workers welfare was necessary to boost the overall socio-economic development of the country.

    Adigizi said when workers salaries improved, businesses would enjoy high patronage and the standard of living of families would also improve.

    He called on the government to give adequate attention to workers welfare to increase productivity and for meaningful development to be achieved for the benefit of all.

    Mrs Kasuwa Titus, another business woman, who operates a restaurant business, said that improved workers welfare would fight unemployment and others social vices in the country.

    “As you can see, I engage this girls and boys to work in my restaurant and if my business improves today, I will engage more of them.

    “This will reduce youth restiveness and other social vices in the society,” Titus said.

  • Obi, cleric urge Obiano to consolidate on present gains

    Outgoing Anambra State Governor Peter Obi yesterday told the governor-elect, Chief Willie Obiano, not to be distracted by scavengers, who foment trouble.

    He advised him to be focused, decisive and concentrate on the job without being misled.

    Obi spoke at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Church in Awka during a mass in honour of the inauguration/swearing-in of Obiano and his deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke, today.

    He said: “Consider the children, the masses, in the decisions you make.

    “You should not bother about what people will say about you because some will call you names, but the ultimate is to achieve good results.”

    The Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, said leaders should sacrifice their time and energy for the people.

    He said leadership was not about the quest for material things, but service to the people.

    The cleric advised that public funds should be meant for public and not private use, urging leaders to forgo personal agenda and pursue that of the public.

    He enjoined Obiano to consolidate on the partnership between the church and the government, noting that the church would pray for his administration to succeed.

    Ezeokafor noted that with the level of performance by Obi, Anambra had reclaimed its place in the country.

    He advised Obiano to emulate his predecessor and listen to advice.

    “It is a means of carrying the people along and ensuring the delivery of democratic dividends to the rural dwellers.”

    Obiano thanked Obi and the indigenes for the support given him and Okeke.

    He solicited prayers to succeed.

    Okeke told The Nation that they would maintain Obi’s legacies.

    Those who attended the service included Chief Victor Umeh, Obi’s outgoing deputy, Emeka Sibeudu, traditional Rulers, among others.

    Obi visited Nnewi yesterday and launched a N3billion shopping mall project to be built by ZHONTIAN Construction Company at Nkwo Triangle.

    He said government paid N600million to the company, which, according to him, was 20 per cent of the total amount of the contract as mobilisation fee.

    Obi said his administration had set 20 per cent aside in the bank as another installment to the contractors, assuring that the project would not be abandoned by the Obiano government.

    The outgoing governor said his contract policy was to mobilise the contractors with 10 per cent of the contract sum, but he mobilised the shopping mall contractors with 20 per cent to make up for the delay in launching the project, adding that on completion, it would give Nnewi a facelift.

    A consultant for the project, Mr. Allen Duze of Ngonyama Okpanum Associates, said the project was expected to be completed in 14 months, but could be finished in one year.

  • Activists urge EFCC to probe ‘missing’ money

    Activists urge EFCC to probe ‘missing’ money

    An anti-corruption non-governmental organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has petitioned the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, requesting his agency to “urgently begin a thorough, transparent and effective investigation into allegations that $20 billion oil money is missing from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”

    The petition followed allegation last week by the Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi, that “NNPC is operating a racket through which the federation has been losing billions.”

    Mr Sanusi made the allegation at the resumed Senate hearing on the matter, insisting that the NNPC has yet to account for $20 billion (equivalent N3.25 trillion) from the total $67 billion oil sales receipts from January 2012 to July 2013.

    SERAP in a petition dated February 7 and signed by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni said it is “concerned about the lack of accountability of the NNPC, which is not consistent with the attitude of a government establishment funded with tax payers’ money.

    “This lack of accountability partly explains why ordinary Nigerians do not trust the NNPC to deal with corruption within its systems. The NNPC will need to come clean with the Nigerian people if it is to enjoy their trust and confidence.”

    “We believe that the allegation that this huge sum of public money is missing coming as it were from an influential government official demands an urgent investigation from the EFCC,” the organisation said.

    The organisation also said that, “The stealing of $20 billion from an economy already weakened by corruption will jeopardise sustainable development and hurt ordinary Nigerians who rely on the government to provide basic necessities of life such as water, good roads and electricity.”

    The organization urged the EFCC to “ask the NNPC to reveal information about the systems it has established to prevent public money from being stolen or to recover the missing oil money. It is very important that the EFCC sends a strong message that it is willing and able to step up its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute cases of corruption.”

    “The EFCC should work closely together with the Senate Committee dealing with the matter, and to ensure that those suspected of involvement in the missing oil money are swiftly brought to justice, and all proceeds of corruption are recovered and returned back to the treasury,” the organisation also said.

    The organisation said: “The allegation shows a serious breach of anti-corruption legislation and Nigeria’s international obligations including under the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption both of which the country has ratified.”

  • Activists urge Babatope, others to join Tinubu, progressives

    Activists urge Babatope, others to join Tinubu, progressives

    Some activists yesterday rose from a meeting in Oyo State, with a message to ex-Minister of Transport Chief Ebenezer Babatope, and other ex-progressives in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) to liberate Nigerians from PDP’s “misrule”.

    The activists said Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other APC leaders were concerned about giving Nigerians a new lease of life since the PDP had continued to shackle the nation with sundry problems.

    Adebiyi Odekanyin, the spokesman, who read the resolutions, said: “Many unpatriotic Nigerians have been seeing the role of the former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as embarrassing and uncalled for. What Asiwaju Tinubu and other progressives are saying is that a drastic disease needs a drastic treatment. In other words, they are telling the nation that on no account is God ready to manifest Himself to cowards.”

    Odekanyin noted that in the United States and other nations, the people are conscious of the type of people who govern them.

    The activist said this type of political culture had not been used in Nigeria since 1960, when the nation became independent.

    He said: “Human type, garrison mis-commanders, misfits, kleptocrats and lawless street urchins have been our political heroes and heroines. This explains why Nigeria is going down the drain seasonally and moment-by-moment. We have never succeeded in organising ourselves for peace, love, stability, progress and development.”

    For the nation’s electoral processes to create a people’s government, the activist said the electoral system should be reformed to avoid impunity and malpractices.

    He said people in power were unfit for such positions.

    Odekanyin said: “And the most fascinating feature of it is that they do not know what to do, but posing to their own discredit and destruction that all is well that ends badly.”

    The activist regretted that when presidents and prime ministers in the U.S, Europe and Asia speak, their words are taken as law.

    “But when leaders speak in Nigeria, it is a call for uncertainty and confusion, because they lack focus and direction. The mandate of governance were always stolen and never emanated from the people,” he said.

  • Oke-ogun residents urge govt to stop illegal revenue collectors

    Traders in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, have decried the activities of illegal revenue collectors on the Irawo/Ago-are/Saki highway, urging the government to come to their aid.

    Hoodlums demand illegal fees from traders at various points on the road.

    The Nation’s investigation revealed that the hoodlums were not connected to the government.

    Their targets are foodstuff dealers, who take their wares to Oke-ogun from Kwara State for sale.

    Every foodstuff dealer pays between N100 and N300 at each point to the hoodlums, who are stationed a few kilometres apart.

    Traders are issued phony receipts after payment and any resistance often results in violent attacks by the hoodlums.

    It was learnt that many foodstuff dealers had been injured by the hoodlums.

    Sources said a foodstuff dealer, popularly known as “Alausa”, who tried to boycott the hoodlums by taking an alternative route, was beaten up.

    He was said to have lost his Boxer motorcycle and N500,000 to the miscreants.

    It was gathered that the incident was reported to the police and two of the hoodlums were arrested.

    They are on trial before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ibadan, the state capital.

    Shop owners are not spared by the hoodlums, as they are forced to pay monthly fees for shops rented from the local government.

    Mrs. Taiwo Alaba from Ago-Are said: “Any shop owner who refuses to yield their demand would be beaten to a pulp.”

    Mr. Adebare Olaoluwa from Ijale-oda, Saki, urged the state government and security agencies to come to their aid.

    Southwest Chairman of the Agricultural Foodstuffs Dealers’ Association Alhaji Hamman Bolagade said each member pays between N1,600 and N2,000 per trip to the hoodlums.

    Bolagade said: “Any attempt to challenge them on the illegal toll collected daily from us leads to violent attacks with various weapons by the hoodlums. After payment for no just cause, each of the criminal groups give us receipts, which bear names of non-existing associations.

    “We are at their mercy. We urge Governor Abiola Ajimobi and security agencies to save us from these criminals, who operate without fear.”

    He said activities of the hoodlums had been reported to the police.