He condemned the shutting down of the Ogige Market in Nsukka - the university town of the state -by the government and also the sacking of nearly 200 workers of the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) ESCET.
An Abuja-based human rights activist, Comrade Obiora Omeje has criticised the Enugu state government for several recent actions he said were going to worsen the hardship the people were already going through.
He condemned the shutting down of the Ogige Market in Nsukka - the university town of the state -by the government and also the sacking of nearly 200 workers of the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) ESCET.
Omeje who is from the state slammed Governor Peter Mbah for allegedly placing what would enter the coffers of government above the welfare of the people, as the market was said to have been shut to force the traders to pay a new regime of taxes the government had introduced.
It was learnt that the market was shut some days ago with traders locked out. Only those who had paid what the government had demanded were reportedly allowed to have access to their shops.
He said, "It was far too insensitive to lock that market the way it was done. What happened to an engagement that would have ensured the traders' sources of livelihood were not interrupted while whatever it wanted to be paid was gradually paid?
“People are groaning from hardship, largely caused by the mismanagement of the resources of the country and what the government of Mbah thinks it should do now is to impose a vicious and inconsiderate tax regime upon already exhausted citizens."
He also condemned the sacking of the workers who had worked for up to three years without pay on mere grounds of irregular employment, querying why the government didn't regularise the employment if that was necessary as they were employed by the state government.
The rights activist maintained that as the people of the state were already squeezed beyond endurance, the government should focus on alleviating their suffering and not compound it through policies and actions that could lead to further hardship.
He said, "Governor Mbah promised that water would flow in all households in Enugu in 180 days of his taking over. Instead of water, the people are seeing a steady flow of increasing hardship in more taxation and loss of employment, at a time when families are already in disarray because of the mountains of challenges they face.
“He has abandoned all he promised to go on an overdrive of imposition of hardship on the people. Who would have believed after all his promises of a better tomorrow, his Tomorrow is Here mantra would usher in the loss of jobs and hardship?
“And what makes this more insensitive is that this is coming at a time when people's earning power has been reduced to the barest minimum and the Naira has become nearly worthless."
He advised the state government to thread softly as the people were being pushed to the wall well beyond their endurance capacity. He cautioned that when they could no longer bear the suffering, the result could be a catastrophic upheaval that would consume everybody.