Grain dealers around Hammadu-Kafi Primary School, Biu-Byepass in Akko local government area of Gombe State have alleged that Asma’u Ali Amsai, the headteacher of the school, illegally imposes and collects tax from them.
One of the leaders of the marketers who spoke to WikkiTimes said Amsai forced them to pay N1,000 to her monthly for displaying their grains for sale by the roadside in front of the school.
The traders negotiated down the amount to N5,00 after most of them found it difficult to remit the initial N1,000 demanded by Asma’u.
“As soon as was posted to this school toward the end of the last academic session, she imposed a monthly tax on us. She threatened to evacuate us if we did not comply with her new illegal tax regime,” one of the grain dealers who does not want to appear in print told WikkiTimes.
Teachers, Pupils In Gombe Schools Suffer As Classroom, Toilet Projects Remain A Mirage
He said Asma’u asked them to pay the ‘compulsory tax the first month she took over as headteacher of Hammadu-Kafi primary school, adding that the money goes to her directly.
“Some of us inherited this business from our fathers. There was never a point in time when we were asked to pay revenue to the school. In fact, authorities of Akko local government, who are legally empowered to collect tax from citizens, have never asked us to pay a dime in tax,” he added wrinkling his forehead in affirmation.
Reacting, the Education Secretary of Akko local government, Abubakar Boyi said headteachers are not duty-bound to impose and collect tax from anybody. “it is not our duty as school teachers to collect tax from such people,” he added.
Mr Boyi assured that stringent measures would be taken against Amsai if the allegation was found to be true to serve as a deterrent to others.
Our correspondent reports that Asma’u was redeployed to Hammadu-Kafi Primary School to replace Mr. Sani Ahmed who was demoted and transferred to a distant location for speaking to WikkiTimes in an investigation that documented the horrible condition of the school.
Mr Sani was allegedly transferred to Kalshinge Primary School about 8 kilometres away from his former duty station.
