Business activities and vehicular movement were disrupted in Enugu, the state capital, on Wednesday as hundreds of commercial transporters and market traders took to the streets to protest what they described as excessive taxation and rising fuel prices.

The protesters, comprising tricycle operators, minibus drivers and traders, blocked parts of the Ogbete Main Market, Old Park and Holy Ghost areas, disrupting access to the city’s major commercial district.

The demonstration was driven by complaints over daily levies and other charges which the operators said had become increasingly burdensome amid soaring petrol prices.

The protest came despite recent efforts by the Enugu State Government to defend its tax reforms and revenue collection system.

Speaking at a revenue sensitisation forum, the Executive Chairman of the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service, Ekene Nnamani, said the state’s informal-sector Internally Generated Revenue had risen from less than N100 million annually to N7.4 billion following the consolidation of levies through a technology-driven system.

According to the state government, the central e-ticket system, which costs traders N36,000 annually and provides for daily consolidated payments by transport operators, was introduced to eliminate illegal road tolls and multiple-agency collections.

The government said the system was also designed to curb alleged extortion by agencies including the Enugu State Waste Management Authority, the Enugu State Environmental and Climate Change Agency and local government councils.

However, protesters at the scene alleged that the new system had not eased their financial burden.

Some transport operators claimed their daily operational taxes had increased several times over the past 20 months, rising from about N350 to N1,000.

“We are forced to pay exorbitant daily tickets, park fees, and heavy fines if we don’t pay before noon, all while fuel prices keep climbing. Today PMS is N1,450 per litre,” a commercial driver, Michael Chieze, said.

Chieze said the rising cost of operating commercial transport was creating fears among operators that they could be pushed out of business.

The protest also caused traffic congestion across parts of the city, with police personnel and government officials deployed to the Ogbete-Holy Ghost corridor to engage the protesters and restore public order.