Gov. Ayo Fayose
Scores of butchers operating in Ekti State on Friday staged a protest over N1,000 tax imposed on them on each cow slaughtered for marketing and the sealing off of the abattoirs by the state government.
At the abattoir located along Ado –Iworoko road, several anti-riot policemen were deployed to close down the place and keep vigil on the facility to compel the butchers to comply with the new tax regime.
Apart from the new tax of N1,000, up from N300 per cow, the butchers also claimed that they are paying veterinary tax, inspection rate and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) levy.
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.
They 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 which the governor rejected.
"This new tax will kill our business and it will affect the masses because there will be no meat in the market. Can you imagine that if we are paying N1,000 per cow, the least our members will be paying each month is N26,000 and this is unacceptable.
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