TheNewsGuru

Tag: Hawkers

  • Hawkers sell new Naira notes at Zaria motor park

    Hawkers sell new Naira notes at Zaria motor park

    In spite of scarcity of the redesigned Naira notes in circulation, some smart alecs have been seen hawking the new notes at Dadi Motor Park, Sabon Gari-Zaria, Kaduna State, at exorbitant prices.

    Large wads of different denominations of the notes was seen on display at the entrance of Dadi Motor Park, Kwangila area of Zaria city for prospective buyers.

    A check by NAN reveals that a bundle of N200 notes was going for N30,000;  N500 notes are being sold at N70,000 and N1,000 notes is sold at N130,000, while N100 is sold at N16,000.

    Mr Mohammed Bello, a new cash hawker, said they paid between N70,000 to N130,000 to obtain new N500,000 notes, depending on the denominations of the notes.

    However, Bello declined to disclose the sources of the money and encumbrances.

    Mr Thomas Damina, a resident of Gozaki village in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State, who patronised the mints vendors, confirmed to NAN that he bought the new N20,000 of N1000 notes at N25,000.

    He said he was forced to purchase the money at the exorbitant price to enable him settle the labourers working at his dry season farm.

    “Traders in my community (Gozaki) are rejecting the old notes and the money is not available at the banks. I have no option than to buy from cash hawkers,” Damina said.

    It was also observed that trading in the new Naira notes was receiving patronage as customers thronged the banks, rushing to beat the Jan. 31 deadline.

    Most ATMs of some commercial banks at PZ, the commercial hub of the ancient Zaria city, were not dispensing cash when NAN visited.

    Trading in Naira notes is in contravention of Section 21 of the CBN Act,  2007, which is punishable under Section 21 Subsection 4 of the Act.

    In spite the laws prohibiting hawking of Naira notes and coins, the perpetrators were freely doing their businesses close to the police out post at Kwangila, Sabon Gari Zaria.

    Reacting to the development, DSP Mohammed Jalige, the Police Public Relations Officer, Kaduna State police command, assured that the police would swing into action against the crime.

    NAN

  • Anambra suspends collection of daily tolls from hawkers, cart pushers, others

    Anambra suspends collection of daily tolls from hawkers, cart pushers, others

    The Anambra State Government has approved suspension of some revenue collection abused by certain groups in the state.

    This was revealed in a statement on Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba.

    Read full statement below:

    Public Service Announcement

    Following a critical review of revenue collection in the state by the Executive Council, the Anambra State Government has decided to suspend certain forms of revenue collection which have been abused by certain groups. They are:

    1. Collection of daily tolls from hawkers in every street in Anambra State;
    2. Collection of daily tolls from mobile hawkers everywhere in the State;
    3. Collection of daily tolls from cart pushers; and
    4. Collection of revenue on roads especially from moving vehicles, including the sale of emblems on any road in the State.

    B. The State Government has also made adjustments to the process collection of other revenues.

    1. Effective from 1st August, 2021, Daily Operations Permit for tricycles known as keke has been reduced from N350 to N250 and N100 for commercial motorcycles popularly known as okada. All tickets must be those approved by the Anambra State Internal Revenue Service (AIRS);

    2. Collection of Daily Operational Permit for Tricycles (keke) and Motorcycles (okada) and other commercial vehicles is hereby restricted to designated loading and offloading points within approved motor parks and other approved collection/drop off points; and

    3. Collection of loading and offloading fees can now be collected at only the Point of Loading and the Point of Offloading within a market or motor park/loading bay using AIRS approved tickets.

    In addition, collection of Produce/Commerce/Forestry goods fees is hereby restricted to the Control Post in front of the Metallurgical Training Institute on Owerri Road, Oba in Idemmili South Local Government Area, and the Control Post at Amansea, Awka North Local Government Area; as well as the Uga Junction in Onitsha.

    Finally, the collection of daily toll from all commercial vehicles, including from the sale of government approved emblems, will now be at only Government approved motor oarks/loading bays in the State.

  • Truck kills four female hawkers in Onitsha

    Truck kills four female hawkers in Onitsha

    Four female hawkers have been confirmed dead in an accident involving a truck on Upper Iweka Flyover in Onitsha, Anambra.
    Mr Andrew Kumapayi, the state Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Wednesday, said the accident occurred at 7.30.a.m.
    “The crash involved a blue Mercedes Benz truck with registration number XF259UNZ driven by an unidentified person.
    “Eyewitness reports reaching us indicate that the truck driver had a disagreement with revenue collectors on Upper Iweka Flyover, and the truck rolled back and crushed four female hawkers along the road.
    “The driver of the truck and his motor boy came out without injury.
    “FRSC rescue team, along with some officers of the the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force, rushed the victims to Toronto Hospital in Onitsha and deposited their bodies at the morgue after doctors on duty confirmed their death,” he said.
    The sector commander said that the driver of the truck had been handed over to the police for investigation.
    While condoling with the families of the dead, he urged Nigerians to be mindful of the dangers associated with hawking near highways.

  • Scarcity: NNPC goes after erring fuel marketers, hawkers

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday said it had intensified the arrest and prosecution of erring marketers and fuel hawkers across the country.

    A statement by the NNPC Spokesman, Mr Ndu Ughamadu in Abuja, said the crackdown was part of efforts to eliminate the queues by sanitising the fuel supply and distribution system.

    Ughamadu said the NNPC Special Task Force on monitoring of filling stations made some arrests, including managers of two filling stations who diverted 66,000 litres of petrol and six illegal hawkers of petrol in Abuja.

    “The two managers are of Azman filling stations, one in Nyanya and the other in Kuje, two suburbs of Abuja.

    “They were arrested after close monitoring by the team for diverting trucks of petrol meant for their stations to unknown destinations.

    “They have been handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution.

    “In addition to being prosecuted, the filling stations would pay a fine of N250 for each litre of petrol diverted,’’ Ughamadu said.

    He said the Task Force had also arrested six persons in the Central Business District of Abuja, for hawking petrol in jerry-cans.

    The statement said three of the suspects were prosecuted at the Area Court, Gudu, Abuja.

    It said Justice Sidi Bello sentenced them to two months imprisonment or a fine of N2,000 each which they promptly paid.

    “The other three, who were arrested yesterday (Tuesday), are expected to be charged today,” Ughamadu said.

  • Ease of Doing Business: NPA bans hawkers, touts from ports

    Ease of Doing Business: NPA bans hawkers, touts from ports

    Sequel to the Executive Orders signed by Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo some few days ago to facilitate a friendly business environment in the country, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has commenced the implementation of the new security protocols in all the sea ports in the country.

    By implication, all touts and hawkers are now banned in the port, while clearing agents and motor-boys will be stopped from hanging around and constituting crowd in the Port.

    This is contained in a statement made available to the press by the agency on Tuesday.

    The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, has according to the statement, directed full and immediate compliance with the executive order by all officials of the agency.

    As part of the implementation process, the surveillance of illegal vessels movement by Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (C3I) Centre and regular patrols of waterfront and common user areas and terminals by joint security teams has already started.

    It was also gathered that all security agencies are being sensitized on their specific roles procedures for enforcing security in the ports and environs in order to achieve a synergy between all security agencies in carrying out security at the ports in line with the International Ships and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.

    According to the statement, the management of NPA has commenced ongoing illumination of port common user areas and fencing of Tincan Island Port Complex to ward off unauthorized access by miscreants, while liaising with Lagos State Government for the illumination of port access roads.

    Also in line with the Executive Order, all security personnel are to display their on-duty cards while on duty while all off-duty personnel are now completely banned from the ports. A new ID card for staff and retirees with improved features and better production quality is also being proposed while the procedures for issuing port passes and access cards are being reviewed.

    As part of moves to ensure seamless operations at the port, a joint patrol team comprising NPA Security, Port Authority Police, Customs and DSS will be constituted to carry effective patrol in the Port on hourly basis. A security operations room will also be established to monitor all port activities.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo earlier this month in an Executive Order directed that “the Apapa Port shall resume 24-hour operations within 30 days of the issuance of this Order and there shall be no touting whatsoever by official or unofficial persons at any port in Nigeria.’’