A report of vendors in the Building Materials Market at Ogidi and Ogbunike, located within the Idemili and Oyi Local Government Areas of Anambra State, staged a demonstration on Friday decrying what they claim to be unjust “illegal shop sealing” and “extortion” tactics by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
According to Kenneth Ofoegbunam, the spokesperson for the traders, certain SON officials allegedly demanded a hefty sum of N8 million from the vendors for an unspecified offense.
Ofoegbunam revealed, “The officials of SON came into our market this morning to impound our goods and sealed some shops because we refused to pay the N8 million they demanded from us.”
He further explained that this was not the first encounter, stating, “They first came about three weeks ago and sealed four shops out of 30 shops. They also told us that they would seal more shops unless we paid N8 million for an offense they did not disclose to us.”
The traders resisted the alleged extortion, leading to a confrontation with SON officials. Ofoegbunam recounted, “Today they reinforced, came with five Hilux load of policemen, NCDC, and other security men, and made straight to the shops they sealed previously to impound the goods therein, but we resisted them.” He claimed that gunfire was used to intimidate the vendors, resulting in the confiscation of goods valued at millions of naira.
Expressing their discontent, the traders have called upon the state government for assistance. Ofoegbunam emphasized, “We are saying that the SON personnel should leave us alone, we are doing legitimate business in this market. SON should be confined only at the Wharf and country borders and not markets.”
During the protest, demonstrators carried placards with messages such as “SON, enough is enough,” “Say no to illegal extortion by SON,” “SON, stop intimidating us,” “SON, stop demanding money from us,” and “SON go to Wharf not markets.” The protesters aim to draw attention to what they perceive as unjust actions by SON and seek resolution and intervention from relevant authorities.
