Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS) has vowed to arrest any traditional ruler and members of community who allow illegal roadblocks to be mounted in their domain henceforth.
BIRS Chairman, Terzungwe Atser who handed down the warning while briefing newsmen in Makurdi yesterday lamented what he described as the menace of illegal collections of taxes and roadblocks in the state.
Atser who fingered some high profile politicians, traditional rulers and community leaders in the illegal taxation racket disclosed that already, four major betting companies have already left the state while other companies are also threatening to leave.
“The practice is affecting our state in various ways as it increases the taxes being paid by traders in Benue market and this has made some traders to withdraw from our markets.
“If this continues, more companies are likely to withdraw their services and our farmers will suffer. From the information we have gathered, Benue is the only state where the illegal practice is going on and we are concerned. That is why we are restating our commitment to stop the trend.”
The BIRS boss further revealed that 76 persons have been arrested in connection with mounting of illegal roadblocks and that 60 of the suspects were already facing prosecution while 16 others were still under investigation.
He also disclosed that the service nets an average of N600 million monthly to the state government coffers as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Atser explained further that the service is proposing a review of the existing tax laws to take care of identified gaps in them.
He added that the ultimate aim of BIRS was to generate enough revenue to take care of salary and overhead for the state government.