By Peter Duru, Makurdi
No fewer than eight members of the illegal tax syndicate operating in parts of Benue state have been arrested by the Benue State Internal Revenue Services, BIRS, taskforce team on illegal checkpoints.
They were nabbed where they allegedly mounted illegal roadblocks and posed as tax collectors on major roads to extort transporters and business persons in Vandeikya and Konshisha Local Government Areas, LGAs, of the state.
According to the BIRS Chairman’s Media Assistant, the victims of the criminal gangs were mainly transporters and business persons who trade and haul farm produce from the rural communities and local markets of the state to other parts of the country.
The arrest of the gang members came a few days after the acting Chairman of BIRS, Mr. Emmanuel Agema inaugurated a task force to sanitize the state of all illegal tax checkpoints, and have the operators of such checkpoints arrested.
The acting Chairman who had also solicited the support of the Benue State Police Commissioner, Mr. Julius Okoro to help the service confront the criminal gangs and miscreants who usually harass their victims vowed to put an end to their activities with the support of the police.
Mr. Agema had lamented that the activities of the syndicate amounted to double taxation on people coming to the state to do business which should not be allowed to continue.
The Chairman also listed to the Police Commissioner the 16 gazetted Revenue Inspection/Monitoring Points across the state which were the only designated points operated by BIRS tax team who had been directed to always put on the BIRS reflective jackets.
He clarified that “all the designated inspection and monitoring points have mini offices painted with BIRS colours and signposts indicating the checkpoints” stressing that anyone caught operating outside the designated points was doing so illegally and should be arrested and made to answer to the law.
Source: Vanguard
