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Owners of private primary and secondary schools in Ondo State have shut down academic activities in protest of what they described as multiple taxation by the state government agencies.
The proprietors under the aegis of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Ondo State, along with their teachers, marched from their secretariat at Igbatoro Road to the State House of Assembly as well as the Governor’s Office .
They carried placards with inscriptions like “NAPPS says no to multiple taxes,” “Multiple taxes is evil to education development,” and “Iroko, multiple taxes is killing.”
The protest which was closely monitored by policemen men was peaceful, but the procession was disallowed from getting to the Governor’s office and the House of Assembly.
President of the association, Goke Orimoloye, said the series of taxes being collected from the schools by the government was suffocating the smooth development of private educational institutions in the state.
Orimoloye said they decided to embark on the protest because the tax stress had “reached an elastic limit,” claiming that the government collects an average tax of N3million annually from an average size school in the state.
He condemned the method being used by government agents in collecting the taxes, saying sometimes, they would lock up the schools and chase away their students.