Business activities and vehicular movement in Enugu were paralysed on Wednesday as hundreds of commercial drivers and market traders took to the streets to protest heavy taxation and soaring fuel prices.
The demonstrators — tricycle (keke) riders, minibus drivers and shop owners — blocked major transport hubs and roads around Ogbete Main Market, Old Park and Holy Ghost, cutting off access to the city’s central commercial district.
Photos from the scene showed crowds chanting, bonfires, and long queues of stranded passengers.
The protesters said daily levies have been increased multiple times in the last 20 months, from *N350 to N1,000 per day*, while fuel now sells for *N1,450 per litre*.
“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 liter,” said Michael Chieze, a commercial driver at the protest. “Now there are fears they want to push us out entirely.”
Traders complained that the state’s central e-ticket system has added to their burden.
The protest comes despite defence of the tax reforms by the Executive Chairman of the *Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Ekene Nnamani*.
Speaking at a revenue sensitisation forum, Nnamani said Enugu’s *informal-sector IGR surged from less than N100m annually to N7.4bn* after technology-driven consolidation of levies.
According to the state government, the *central e-ticket system — N36,000 annually for traders and daily consolidated payments for transporters* — was designed to eliminate illegal road tolls and multiple-agency extortion by:
– Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA)
– Enugu State Environmental and Climate Change Agency
– Local government councils
But operators on ground disagreed. They said instead of reducing extortion, the new system has formalised it and increased their daily cost.
As traffic congestion worsened across the capital, *police units and government representatives were deployed to the Ogbete-Holy Ghost corridor* to engage the protesters and restore order.
As of 11:38am Wednesday, tension remained high around Old Park, with many shops still shut and keke operations suspended.
The protest reflects wider frustration in Enugu and other South-East cities over rising living costs, fuel price volatility, and aggressive revenue drives by state governments battling to boost IGR.
Efforts to get reaction from ESIRS as of press time were ongoing.
