By Felix Ekwu/Victor Onajero
Point Of Sales, POS, Operators in Orhuwhorun community, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State have been mandated to register their machines with a thousand naira and pay a daily fee of 100 naira to continue doing business.
This unprecedented development was disclosed by the President General of the community, Engineer John Uviejitobor, to the PoS Operators in what has been alleged as a “kangaroo meeting” held at the Orhuwhorun community Town Hall, on Monday, December 4, 2023.
According to a PoS Operator who attended the meeting, the President General of the community, also gave the POS Operators a deadline of Wednesday, December 6 2023, to comply with the new directive or face sanctions and a fine of 20 thousand naira.
The POS Operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the PG noted that the registration and daily fee demanded is to mobilize a security network that will guarantee a safe business atmosphere for the POS Operators in Orhuwhorun.
In a chat with our correspondent, the POS Operator expressed shock over the never-been-heard-before pronouncement and called on relevant stakeholders including the Local, State, and Federal Governments to intervene.
Another POS Operator, however, wondered why such action was coming from the President General of the community, and not from the Udu Local Government Council.
She noted that the President General of the community should be called to order as such is not the practice of his contemporaries.
She also noted that the pronouncement has caused apprehension among PoS Operators and community residents, who are still coming to terms with the ongoing naira scarcity which recently has increased the charges of the operators noting that the new development will make things tough for the common man.
When contacted, the President General of Orhuwhorun community, Engineer John Uviejitobor, in a phone chat with NewsNet Nigeria denied imposing the registration and daily fee.
Uviejitobor explained that during the meeting the PoS Operators made contributions and agreed to the one thousand naira for registration and payment of a daily fee of 100 naira to deal with the security challenges being faced by the operators in the daily businesses.
“The registration of N1000 is just once not that they will be paying it every month apart from the daily N100. We first all said N200 later we bargained and agreed on N100. They were even the ones that suggested N100, that N100 is okay.
“Nobody is extorting money from anybody. I called them all the PoS operators. They have been complaining of fake alerts, collecting of money, most of these boys stealing and all that. So, I then called them that for us to stop this we should register and know who are the PoS operators in the community. Then during the process, we will assign a number to each person, this number will contain the quarter, street and the area will be zoned for security reasons.
“Thereafter we will now dedicate three lines for security men to that particular line. When they assign a number based on your location they will now use that number in case you have issues like somebody trying to steal your money, fake alert and others, you send a text to those three dedicated lines. Immediately they see that number they will know that this person has a challenge and then send vigilante and security men to that spot. So that the town will be peaceful.
“To achieve it vigilantes will be there, we will be taking care of security operations, and we are thinking of even bringing soldier men to the community. So, everybody has to contribute.
“But, you know any plan you bring out, some people will always want to against it but when they are having problems they say people did not respond,” said Uviejitobor.
Of late, the Orhuwhorun community has witnessed various nefarious activities like kidnapping and cult clashes which have claimed lives.
