The Benue Internal Revenue Service, BIRS, has said that hoodlums intercepted two trucks of palliative and manhandled the drivers in the process.
The acting chairman of BIRS, Emmanuel Agema, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Makurdi.
He stated that the hoodlums posed as revenue officials at a collection point close to Aliade, Gwer East Local Government Area in Benue State, when the unsuspecting drivers conveying palliative from Adamawa to the eastern part of the country ran into their ambush.
Agema said the hoodlums stopped the vehicles, broke their windscreen and stole the sum of N200,000 from one of the drivers at the illegal tax collection point.
According to him, two persons have been arrested and transferred to the Department of State Services, DSS, on the governor’s directives that a thorough investigation be carried out to fish out those behind illegal tax collection in the state.
“Since I assumed duty as acting Chairman of BIRS, my biggest challenge is the activities of illegal tax collectors and so far 35 persons have been charged to court.
“On assumption of duty, we also terminated revenue contracts, closing revenue leakages about 90 percent, we are now using our staff making us generate more revenue for the state,” Agema added.
