By Adedapo Adesanya
Officials of the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) have arrested seven fake revenue collectors operating in Enugu North Local Government Area.
This was disclosed by the ECTDA Executive Chairman, Mr Josef Onoh, who further hinted that the agency apprehended the suspects last Friday.
He stated that accused persons had claimed to be employees of the state Ministry of Environment and Enugu North Local Government Area and had confiscated building materials from various construction sites along Enugu’s Government Residential Area (GRA) axis at the time of their detention.
Items recovered from the suspects included 10 cartons of 60×60cm tiles, 2 bags of white cement, fake ID cards, fake Ministry of Environment tax force letter and Youth Empowerment Levy receipts of Enugu North Local Government Area.
Mr Onoh said the brutality of the suspects’ action in collecting property levies and other revenue has sabotaged economic development in the state, assuring that the suspects would be handed over to the police who will charge them to court.
“Collecting property levy and other levies are illegal and against the law of Enugu State. They will be charged to court to face legal action if found guilty,” Mr Onoh said.
It was revealed that the head of the tax force Ministry of environment, Mr Amaechi Orji, when contacted, clarified that the suspects were not staff of the ministry, stressing that the ministry does not embark on a drive without a team of security agents and do not collect cash.
“None of them is a staff of the Ministry. All the documents they have here are fake. None of them emanates from the ministry of environment.
“We don’t go on drives without a team of security agents and don’t accept or collect cash because Enugu state has a single account where we pay. The ministry also gives notice of grace before confiscating any item,” he said.
Modupe Gbadeyanka