Across major Lagos markets, including Oyingbo, Mile 12, and Oshodi, vulnerable women traders face multiple levies collected by ‘agberos’, who sometimes use force and demand payment regardless of sales, draining their earnings and pushing them deeper into poverty. PUNCH Healthwise investigation shows that many of the payments are collected without receipts or clear legal backing, raising concerns about widespread illegal levies in Nigeria’s commercial hub. JANET OGUNDEPO reports.
Before a Locust beans trader, Mrs Fatimoh Oladele makes a single sale at Oyingbo Market, situated in the Ebute Metta area of Lagos State, she must pay a N1,500 fee to levy collectors, locally called ‘agberos.’
Every morning, the mother of four, whose children are in secondary school and university, would bring out her N20,000 basket of locust beans, popularly called Iru in Yoruba, Dawadawa in Hausa, and Ogiri/Okpehe in Igbo/Idoma/Igala.
She places it at her usual spot: an open, unmarked stall shaded by a large movable umbrella and tree branches that shield her from Lagos’ scorching sun in the busy section of the market near the Oyingbo BRT terminal.
When sales are good, the female trader says she makes about N3,000 in profit daily. On bad days, however, she barely breaks even.
Regardless of how the day’s sales turn out, the locust beans seller says she must still pay N1,500 in levies to ‘collectors’ who arrive shortly after traders display their wares.
Oladele, who contributes her meagre earnings to the upkeep of her household and the training of her children, has no choice but to take home the little profit she is left with every day because a refusal to pay is equal to being chased away from the usual roadside stall she has been managing for over two years.
“Every day, I pay N1,500 before I sell a wrap of locust beans. If business is slow, I go home with just a little. Out of my profit at the end of the day, N1,500 is already gone. From the remaining, I take out what I need to feed myself. There is no profit as such from the sales we make these days because of these levies.
“This money is collected every morning, and anyone who doesn’t pay won’t be allowed to trade at their stall for that day,” she said.
Referring to the levy collectors as “awon boys,” the locust beans vendor, who has been in the business for over 30 years, says, “Different people collect the levies every day. They rotate who collects the levies among themselves, and they come in the morning. I have been trading at this spot for over two years, and in this market for over a decade, so we already know them.
“The market authorities know about this levy, and we can’t complain about it. If we complain, we would be told ‘to go and sell our wares in front of our husbands’ houses.’”
Aside from the daily N1,500, Oladele says she pays N500 every month to the Local Government Council and another N500 to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, popularly known as KAI.
Yet, the locust bean vendor has never received receipts for the several levies she pays daily and monthly.
For Oladele and thousands of Lagos market women, the burden of multiple, unofficial levies is the main force driving them into deeper poverty, despite the existence of a new tax law meant to curb such practices.
Still at the Oyingbo market, a middle-aged woman, identified as Tawa, echoes the same situation.
Tawa, a trader in tapioca, also known as Kpokpo Garri, a staple food made from starch of cassava root, balances her wares on a long stool and has an umbrella to provide little respite from the scorching sun.
Yet, every day, the middle-aged mother of two school-aged children pays N1,500 to the local levy collectors.
“Ah, if I don’t pay, I won’t be allowed to stay here,” she told PUNCH Healthwise.
An elderly woman who sells garden eggs, whose name could not be ascertained, says that on some days, she pays N700, and on other days, she pays N1,000.
She mentioned that other traders could pay as high as N2,5000.
“There is nothing we can do. If the levy eats very much into our profit today, tomorrow, we pray to make better sales since we don’t have another shop or a job in a Tom Tom company,” the elderly woman said.
The stalls of several other women traders visited in Lagos’s oldest and busiest markets also showed that every trader is levied between N700, N1,000, N1,500 and as high as N2,500 daily.
No receipt is given for this daily levy, and there appeared to be no clear reason for the disparity in prices.
Several traders in the major markets visited by our correspondent told PUNCH Healthwise that both the state and local governments, as well as market authorities, are aware of the widespread illegal levies, noting that the practice has persisted for years.
Findings further revealed that the “boys” collecting the levies remit a portion of the proceeds to the government and market leaders, popularly known as Iyaloja and Babaloja.
Unarguably, what remains unclear is whether these levies can truly be classified as taxes, a mandatory financial charge imposed by the government on individuals or businesses.
At Mile 12
After leaving the busy stalls of the Oyingbo market, our correspondent visited the Mile 12 International Market in the Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, known as the home of perishable items.
Interactions with several women traders show a slightly different situation from that of the Oyingbo market.
An elderly woman, identified only as Taibath, says they are given a N100 ticket every morning. But the ‘collectors’ may sometimes return to collect the money in the evening if they perceive the trader has not made sales at the time.
“Before now, the ticket fee was N50, but now it is N100. This excludes other levies we pay in the market. The Babaloja and Iyaloja would each collect their levies of N2,000 every month. Every Friday, we each pay N200 to KAI and another N200 for environmental fees on Thursday,” the elderly trader said.
In a week, Taibath pays N1,900 in levies, a cost that leaves her with little profit to take home and forces her to ration the food she eats while at the market.
A trader in Okra, identified as Mrs Jackson, said she gets a ticket of N100 daily.
Like Taibath, Jackson also pays the same daily and monthly levies, as well as other irregular fees that can be imposed at any time.
A fish trader, popularly called Iya Eleja, said she pays N5,000 monthly for the small space where she places her stool and bowl of fish in the market. Yet, she still pays a daily ticket fee of N100, in addition to other daily and weekly charges.
At Mile 12 market, only the N100 ticket comes with proof of payment; other levies are collected without receipts.
Findings at the Oshodi market also revealed multiple taxation, unreceipted levies, and widespread extortion. Agberos move around with money bags to collect the payments.
To understand the operations of the levy collectors, PUNCH Healthwise visited a local joint on Thursday night to engage with them.
Three levy collectors took turns to explain.
One of them, simply identified as Ade, said, “There are different slots. There is one for the Local Government and others for ‘boys’.
“In Lagos as a whole, we have what is called off start. The money those boys are collecting does not belong to the local government. It belongs to the Iyaloja. So that is their pocket money. The government gives them space to allow them to eat, so they don’t cause problems every day in the state. If I tell you how much they collect in a day. Your monthly salary is what they get in a week. I took a woman to the market, and she had to leave because she said the money they were collecting was too much.”
Another said, “There are those for the Local Government, too. At Oshodi, the boys go home with bags of money. During the time the money is shared, people are not allowed to pass through that area. They collect from women selling clothes, tomatoes and other wares from the main Oshodi market down to Arena complex.”
New tax law and the informal sector
In June 2025, President Bola Tinubu signed four tax reform bills into law, including the Nigeria Tax Act, which became effective January 1, 2026. The law exempts employees earning less than N800,000 annually from personal income tax.
According to Moniepoint Informal Economy Report 2025, Nigeria has over 39 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, accounting for 96 per cent of all businesses and contributing 50 per cent to GDP.
In March, the Federal Government prohibited the collection of taxes in cash and banned roadblocks for revenue enforcement. The Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Mr Olusegun Adesokan, stated the framework was designed to end informal, coercive, and fragmented tax practices.
Yet, 11 days later, market ‘tax collectors’ continue collecting levies forcefully, without receipts or clearly defined government-approved accounts.
The Chairman of the presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, had disclosed that only three per cent of informal sector operators can pay taxes, meaning the reforms legally exempt the bottom 97 per cent.”
Multiple levies, deepening poverty
About 139 million Nigerians live in poverty, according to the World Bank 2025 reports. A PwC report projects Nigeria’s poverty rate rising to 62 per cent by 2026. The PUNCH recently reported that 63 per cent of Nigerians fell below the poverty line after fuel subsidy removal.
The Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022 shows near gender parity in poverty levels (women: 50.7%, men: 49.3%), but educational disparities disproportionately disadvantage women.
‘Roadside vendors don’t get tickets’
In her response, the Otun Iyaloja, Mile 12 International Market, Olaide Binitie, justified the fees, stating that market traders only paid the LAWMA and security fees, which were important to ensure the cleanliness and safety of goods stored in the market.
She further noted that weekly revenue collected by the agents from the Local Government Council was another levy that traders in the market would soon begin to pay.
“The council will collect revenue in the market, and there is nothing that can be done about that. This revenue is collected once a month because it would be difficult if they were asked to pay it annually.
“For the tax they talk about, the government collects it, and there is nothing that can be done about that. The government says the tax is what they use to embark on projects in the land,” Binitie said.
Contrary to what women at the market said about the daily payment of tickets, the Otun Iyaloja said such groups were not given tickets.
“Mostly, those who display their wares on makeshift platforms outside of the main market stalls are not given tickets. The roadside vendors don’t pay security dues. The security and LAWMA dues are mostly paid by those who have shops and those who keep their goods inside the shops.
“If someone is into sales, there are one or two things one would need to sacrifice, no matter how small,” she said.
Responding to questions on possible tax relief and interventions for vulnerable market women, the Otun Iyaloja said that whenever the local government introduces initiatives to empower traders, she identifies vulnerable women in the market, documents their names and details, and submits them for support.
Excessive taxation pushes women into poverty – Experts
The Director of Program at Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative, Yemisi Nathaniel, asserted that multiple taxations were not justified, stating that undocumented and unreceipted levies reflected a corrupt, nontransparent and inequitable system.
She noted that women traders in local markets across Nigeria, including Abuja, experience exploitation, adding that even women who display their wares on the floor in village markets are forced to pay levies.
The gender advocate stated that taking up to 50 per cent of a woman’s profit through multiple levies is significant and further deepens existing inequities, stressing that the different charges collected by various actors, including local government authorities, market associations and sometimes unauthorised collectors, widen the inequality gap women traders already face.
The women’s rights advocate called for standardised market levies through local government schedules, citing the Kano Market Levy Reform, which reduced harassment and informal collections from petty traders.
She also referenced Kaduna Market Digitisation Efforts, where electronic tax levy systems were introduced in local markets to ensure transparency.
Nathaniel stated that market unions, associations of small business owners, and civil society organisations can help these women speak with one voice, noting that when traders come together, authorities are more likely to listen.
She stated, “When you talk one-on-one, who listens to you? But when you come together, 10 of you, 100 of you in the market, I’m sure even those who are the authority will want to listen to you. It might not be easy changing the status quo. But with time, I’m sure, and even civil society organisations like ours, even media organisations like yours, who are able to come up with concrete surveys and forge a solution, a way forward, with these women also, with these leaders who are more or less in charge of those markets.”
The WRAPA program director called for taxation to be proportional to income, noting that those earning less than N800,000 per annum are free from taxation under current laws.
She stated, “When it comes to fairness that we are calling for, it should be predictable, because if it’s not predictable, how do you plan for it? All these small petty traders operating at a subsistence level, especially women, who could either be a single parent, supporting her husband, nursing children, or supporting aged and special children within the family, should ideally not be burdened with multiple taxation but ideally be supported rather than overburdened.”
Nathaniel disclosed that during a study in an Abuja market, only three out of 20 women surveyed knew about the National Health Insurance Scheme, and only the same three were aware of pension schemes.
She stated, “Why are we charging those people? Why are we subjecting such a woman to multiple taxes in the market when we don’t give them social coverage? These people are not only sustaining their families but also contributing to the local economy, food supply chain, and community commerce. Excessive or unregulated taxation can push many of them into poverty or even pull them out of business entirely.”
The WRAPA program director called on the government at the state and local levels to harmonise market levies so that traders are not subject to multiple charges by different entities, adding that all taxes or levies must be officially documented with receipts to ensure transparency and accountability.
She urged the government to introduce protective policies for micro-traders, such as reduced or waived levies, citing the CBN-MSME funds during President Jonathan’s administration, where 60 per cent of funding was reserved for women.
Nathaniel stated, “These are ways you could help these women. In one way, you even give them anything. But it should be commensurate with earnings. And let it not look like we are collecting for those who have not. We further impoverish them.”
‘Government more interested in taking than giving’
A Women’s Rights and Global Rights Advocate, Josephine Christopher, stated that multiple taxation across several levels of government has become institutionalised in many sectors, but the government has failed to recognise that taxation functions optimally only within a functional society.
She stated, “In systems of governance, taxation is sustained by a social contract, a relationship of give and take between the government and its citizens in which the government bears the primary responsibility of protecting the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, we exist in a society where government appears more interested in taking than in fulfilling its obligations to citizens.”
Christopher noted that small businesses remain the lifeblood of the economy, yet they are often subjected to excessive and overlapping taxes imposed by federal, state, and local authorities, adding that this multiplicity of levies creates an environment that stifles enterprise rather than encourages it.
She stated, “Vulnerable market women making meagre daily sales deserve protection, especially as many already carry the additional burdens of household responsibilities and the financial costs of raising children. Government policy must recognise that these women are not merely traders; they are central pillars of household and community economic survival.”
The advocate called for harmonisation of taxes across levels of government to eliminate duplicative levies that disproportionately affect small traders, adding that clear tax guidelines and transparent revenue systems would reduce harassment by informal collectors.
She urged the government to introduce progressive taxation thresholds that exempt or significantly reduce taxes for micro and small-scale traders whose daily earnings remain extremely low.
Christopher stated, “Taxation should not punish survival-level entrepreneurship. Beyond reducing taxes, the government must establish accessible financial support systems for small traders, including low-interest credit schemes, cooperative financing models, and targeted micro-grants for women-led enterprises. Access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers preventing market women from expanding their businesses and improving their livelihoods.”
She called on local governments to invest tax revenues back into market infrastructure, including improved sanitation, storage facilities, security, childcare spaces, and transportation access within markets.
The advocate stated, “When traders see tangible improvements in their working environment, taxation becomes part of a visible social contract rather than a burden imposed without benefit. Taxation, in principle, is meant to stabilise the flow of resources within society, redistributing wealth and enabling support for those most in need. However, in Nigeria, the system appears less focused on facilitating this redistribution and more on enriching a select few.”
Christopher stated that market women and small traders must be protected, not overburdened, because their economic stability sustains the broader family unit and strengthens the foundation of the national economy.
She added that market women must have representation in local tax committees, stating that they must be part of the decisions that affect their daily lives.
Payments without receipts detestable – Commissioner
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, stated that governments at the federal and state levels are trying to eliminate multiple taxation.
He further questioned why the levies would be collected from the market women without receipts issued to them.
He stated, “The ones that I find detestable are the ones that one has to pay without a receipt. Why would you pay if you are not going to get a receipt? Why would you not report to the authorities?”
The commissioner stated that payments for environmental clean-up after every market day, when the Lagos Waste Management Authority carts away refuse, are justifiable, as are payments for security within the market.
He stated, “The only ones that don’t have a receipt, those are the ones that I find detestable in my own view. Apart from LAWMA, I do not think the state goes into all those places to be asking people to pay for services that they have not gotten.”
The commissioner noted that the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs is in charge of market activities, adding that as a matter of principle, the government does not legalise multiple transactions.
He stated, “We have created an environment that is encouraging businesses to come into Lagos. That is why you see that we are leaders in terms of foreign direct investment. If it is something that the Lagos State government is backing, that everybody should be paying multiple transactions, I do not think that business will be coming to Lagos.”
The commissioner promised to find out what the situation is and investigate who should pay, why they are paying, and why those without receipts are expected to pay.
LG chairman mum
Efforts to get the responses of the Chairman of the Conference of 57 Local Government Chairmen in Lagos State, Abdullahi Olowa, were not successful, as several phone calls and messages to his line received no response as of press time.
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