PRESIDENT GENERAL of Ughelli Descendants Union, UDU, Worldwide, Chief Pius Omubaye, has frowned at allegation by members of the Cow, Goat and Pig Butchers Associations that the Ovie of Ughelli, HRM Wilson Oharisi lll, asked members of the union to pay ‘ground levy’ to him before they could operate in the area.
Omubaye stated this while reacting to a one-day strike action by members of the associations who accused the monarch of asking them to pay N3,000 and N2,500 for every cow, goat and other animals butchered in the market.
Describing the allegation as a false alarm aimed at intentionally painting the revered Ughelli stool in a bad light, he told members and leadership of the associations to tender an unreserved apology to the monarch and his people.
He said,: “When we came into power, we tried to see how we could generate funds to run the union and develop the kingdom through corporate social responsibilities. And we decided to meet the butchers who are collecting ground rents from cow, pig and goat customers.
“They Collect various types of money in the name of ground, rope and ladder levies. And we invited them for a meeting to let them know that we are the ground owners and that part of these moneys should be giving to us. And when it got to a critical position, we decided to meet HRM Ovie of Ughelli Kingdom to intervene and after several meetings.