– MOVE YOUR MEN TO THE BORDER SAYS AGGRIEVED TRADERS
By Joseph ETTA in Calabar
Oil palm merchants and Local oil producers in Bakassi/Akpabuyo have send a save our soul message to the Controller General of the Custom and Excise, Col. (Rtd) Ahmed Ali, to move his personnel from the road to Ikang, a border town.
They lamented that the high rate of extortion on the road from Ikang in Bakassi to Calabar metropolitan is taking a toll on the business of the people of the area.
Daybreak in a chat with the traders mentioned that there are four (4) check points on the road, if you like call it “toll gate.” The first one, the Federal task force collects N5,000 for 20 gallons of palm oil, the second collects N3,000 and the third, the Army check point at maternity collects N200, the last check points, also the army check point at “Excuse Me” Hotel at Atimbo swam collects N1,000.
However, he noted that, the security personnel have devised a language with the traders “Oil is Oil” whether Local oil or foreign oil, you must pay or go back.
Oil merchant, Daniel Udo, told Daybreak that it is important that men of customs and Excise should leave the road and move to the border town to perform their official duty. This unofficial duty they are doing is causing havoc on the road.
He disclosed that last week some traders travelling with oil to Dawaki in Plateu State were turned back when they could not cough-out N250,000 demanded from them, at the custom official.
The traders usually traveled from Bakassi/Akpabuyo with palm oil and in exchange come back with Pigs, used for pork meat.
Daniel Udo, who has been in the oil business for more than 20 years noted that the effect of all these extortions is really telling on the traders, local producers and the oil market adding that the traders are lamenting the non profitability, the local producers equally lamenting. “They have stop producing because of difficulties of getting the product to the market” he said.
Daybreak learnt that this has caused scarcity of the product, even the native oil for household consumption is very scarce. When Daybreak visited the Bogobiri oil market, Pst. Eno William who is also the head of co-operative society called “Inyene Abasi” told this reporter that business is slow, “we are not seeing the product to buy.”
He appealed to the Cross River State Government and especially to President Buhari to intervene to save the oil market from collapsing.
Meanwhile, a retired Airfoce Officer Chief Bassey Duke has expressed his displease over the high rate of extortion and harassment of traders and expressed his surprised that with all the numerous check points on the road kidnappers still kidnapped people in the town and pass through them to the creeks. “They would not see kidnappers; they will only see the poor market women”. He stated.
