The Task Force on Illegal Taxation in Benue State has arrested five members of a gang who mounted unauthorised checkpoints in parts of the state for the collection of illegal federal haulage taxes from heavy duty trucks, business persons, and road users in Otukpa, Ogbadibo Local Government Area in the state.
In the statement by the Media Assistant to the Acting Chairman, Jacob Suswam, explained that the latest arrest came on the heels of an earlier arrest of another gang of eight by the Taskforce in Konshisha and Vandeikya Local Government Areas.
The acting Chairman of the Benue Board of Internal Revenue, Mr. Emmanuel Agema, disclosed that the gang members were nabbed at their operational base at the weekend.
The special operation was in line with the resolve of the acting Chairman to clear the highways in the state of all illegal checkpoints and also get rid of all forms of illegality associated with revenue collection in the State.
During his visits to the heads of the security agencies in the state to seek their collaboration after his appointment, Mr. Agema said, “Road taxes are collectable by the state government as enshrined in the extant laws, and the law has no recognition for the operators of federal haulage, which is completely illegal.”
Meanwhile, the Taskforce team, in the late hours of the same day and early hours of Saturday, dismantled and burned some illegal checkpoints found at Amaafu and Katsina-Ala town, all in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, while the operators took to their heels on sighting the team.
