Timber Dealers Association, Burutu local government area of Delta state has appealed for the intervention of Governors Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Douye Diri of Bayelsa State to stop the extortion of members of the group along Ekeremor river by a group of persons allegedly fronting for the Deputy Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Honourable Micheal Ogbere.
The group in a peaceful protest stated that the appeal had become necessary to avert civil unrest as there was already palpable tension in the area following the harassment and violence suffered by their members in the hands of the persons said to be collecting revenue for Forest Produce for Bayelsa State government, even when their business was on the shores of Delta State.
They carried placards with inscriptions “Allow us to do our legitimate business without stress and intimidation”, “We can no longer accept this illicit oppression from Ekeremor, Bayelsa state”, “Deputy Speaker, Bayelsa State House of Assembly tell your boys to stop the illegal tax”, “Diri, Okowa, save our soul”, “Enough is Enough”, “We are peace loving Deltans, Allow us to do our business”, noting that they only passed through the Ekeremor river on a boundary between Burutu in Delta and Ekeremor in Bayelsa state to their destinations.
The spokesperson for the association, Mr Peres Pereotuke, said the activities of the fierce looking arm wielding stooges of the Bayelsa Deputy Speaker was would no longer be condoned, disclosing that the boys were extorting over four hundred thousand naira from them on daily basis.
Peres called on the governments of Bayelsa and Delta state, as well as every relevant stakeholder to intervene, urging the Bayelsa Deputy Speaker to call his boys to order to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
He explained that the peaceful protest was to draw attention of the Bayelsa and Delta state governments and other stakeholders to the threat to peace in the localities, stressing that any attempt to force them out of a business they had been into over the years would be resisted.
New Hands on Deck as Delta Targets Durable Roads under Oborevwori