JUST IN: Five arrested for illegal taxation on Benue highways

Five members of the gang mounting unauthorized checkpoints in parts of Benue state for illegal federal haulage taxes from heavy duty trucks, business persons and road users have been arrested in Otukpa, Ogbadibo Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state.

The gang members were apprehended weekend at their operational base by the recently constituted Taskforce on Illegal Taxation by the acting Chairman of the Benue Board of Internal Revenue, BIRS, Mr. Emmanuel Agema.

According to a statement by the Media Assistant to the acting Chairman, Jacob Suswam, the latest arrest came on the heels of an earlier arrest of another gang of eight, by the Taskforce in Konshisha and Vandeikya LGAs.

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 stamp out all forms of illegalities associated with revenue collection in the State.

Recall that Mr. Agema during his visits to heads of the security agencies in the state to seek their collaboration after his appointment, stressed that “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 burnt some illegal checkpoints found at Amaafu and Katsina-Ala town, all in Katsina-Ala LGA while the operators took to their heels on sighting the team.