Five suspected illegal revenue collectors have been arrested by operatives of the Board of Internal Revenue and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Ebonyi State at the International Market, located in the Abakaliki metropolis.
Our correspondent learnt that the arrest was made during a raid at the market on Tuesday while the suspects were arrested in different locations of the market collecting the illegal tax from market women.
Items recovered included some booklets of receipts and cash already collected from poor women and children selling sachet water, vegetables and other petty items.
Some of the women told our correspondent that the illegal revenue collectors had been a thorn in their flesh as they collected between N50 and N100 daily or seized their wares pending when they paid.
The leader of the Revenue Board team, Emmanuel Elechi, said the arrest of the suspects was based on the incessant violation of Governor Francis Nwifuru’s directive of exempting petty traders and vegetable sellers from revenue collection.
According to him, “We are determined to flush out illegal revenue collectors who are bent on tarnishing the image of the board. We must adhere strictly to the directives of the governor to allow petty traders and vegetable sellers to do their business without paying tax.
“Our governor knows what the poor are going through and decided to reduce the hardship but some people are sabotaging the gesture to enrich themselves. We cannot tolerate that. We shall continue to arrest them and prosecute them to serve as a deterrent to others.”
The arrest is coming on the heels of the commencement of e-ticketing automation for commercial motorcycles and tricycle operators to check crime and close revenue leakages in the state.
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