HCN Operatives Arrest 30 Illegal Revenue Agents Along Federa...

HCN Operatives Arrest 30 Illegal Revenue Agents Along Federal Highways

By Okey Maduforo Awka. So far 30 Illegal Revenue Agents have been arrested by the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN since the commencement of the it’s operations in the last two weeks. The paramilitary outfit was recently engaged by the Agricultural Product Dealers to clear the illegal check points on the federal highways where fake revenue agents rip off transporters of food items from the North to the Southern parts of the country. With the official order of the Inspector General of Police, the body deployed officers and men to the federal highways which has so far resulted in the arrest of thirty suspects. According to the Deputy Commandant General of the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN in charge of operations Mr Elvis Okoli “Presently what we are doing on the highways is to clear the highways of all these illegal check points and illegal revenue check points and agents ” “They have been in the highways collecting revenue from vehicles that transport goods and these money that they extort from these truck drivers transporting farm produce are transfered to the cost of the goods and the end victims are the consumers” “When that is done prices of goods are skyrocketed and it has always affected the ordinary masses ” Okoli recalled that the body got a report from the Agricultural Product Dealers about the illegal activities of those people and requested it’s services on the mandate of the Inspector General of Police. $We got information from the Agricultural Product Dealers that when food items are purchased from the North they spend over N,500,000.00 to transport these goods to the Southern parts of Nigeria and it has become so worrisome that they had to employ our services and our collaboration with the joint task force embarked on this journey with the corporation of the Inspector General of Police” “We have sent signals to all the police formations to assist us in executing this great assignment” “So far we have arrested in Cross River state more than twenty five persons and we have arrested also in Enugu about five of them who are principal actors and they have been moved to Abuja and some of our men who are in Abuja, Nasarawa and other states doing the same job ” “We have been to Enugu, Imo and Abia states and we shall touch all the states in Nigeria to make sure that these people who mount illegal check points extorting money from innocent people are apprehended” Okoli sited the 2004 tax law which prohibits the collection of revenues or mounting of check points on the federal highways. “There is a tax law 2004 that says nobody or revenue officials is authorized to be on the federal highway for the purposes of collecting revenue and they know it but they deliberately decided to be on the highways and be collecting revenue from innocent people” “With this development the cost of food items would come down and the end consumers would not by food items at cut throat prices” “The high cost of food items in our markets here in the Southern parts of Nigeria is as a result of the cost of transportation from the North to the South” “Some spend up to N700,000.00 to pass through about seven to eight states of the country to get to the South and this totally unacceptable to us ” he stated.

By Okey Maduforo Awka.

So far 30 Illegal Revenue Agents have been arrested by the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN since the commencement of the it’s operations in the last two weeks.

The paramilitary outfit was recently engaged by the Agricultural Product Dealers to clear the illegal check points on the federal highways where fake revenue agents rip off transporters of food items from the North to the Southern parts of the country.

With the official order of the Inspector General of Police, the body deployed officers and men to the federal highways which has so far resulted in the arrest of thirty suspects.

According to the Deputy Commandant General of the Harmony Corps of Nigeria HCN in charge of operations Mr Elvis Okoli

“Presently what we are doing on the highways is to clear the highways of all these illegal check points and illegal revenue check points and agents ”

“They have been in the highways collecting revenue from vehicles that transport goods and these money that they extort from these truck drivers transporting farm produce are transfered to the cost of the goods and the end victims are the consumers”

“When that is done prices of goods are skyrocketed and it has always affected the ordinary masses ”

Okoli recalled that the body got a report from the Agricultural Product Dealers about the illegal activities of those people and requested it’s services on the mandate of the Inspector General of Police.

$We got information from the Agricultural Product Dealers that when food items are purchased from the North they spend over N,500,000.00 to transport these goods to the Southern parts of Nigeria and it has become so worrisome that they had to employ our services and our collaboration with the joint task force embarked on this journey with the corporation of the Inspector General of Police”

“We have sent signals to all the police formations to assist us in executing this great assignment”

“So far we have arrested in Cross River state more than twenty five persons and we have arrested also in Enugu about five of them who are principal actors and they have been moved to Abuja and some of our men who are in Abuja, Nasarawa and other states doing the same job ”

“We have been to Enugu, Imo and Abia states and we shall touch all the states in Nigeria to make sure that these people who mount illegal check points extorting money from innocent people are apprehended”

Okoli sited the 2004 tax law which prohibits the collection of revenues or mounting of check points on the federal highways.

“There is a tax law 2004 that says nobody or revenue officials is authorized to be on the federal highway for the purposes of collecting revenue and they know it but they deliberately decided to be on the highways and be collecting revenue from innocent people”

“With this development the cost of food items would come down and the end consumers would not by food items at cut throat prices”

“The high cost of food items in our markets here in the Southern parts of Nigeria is as a result of the cost of transportation from the North to the South”

“Some spend up to N700,000.00 to pass through about seven to eight states of the country to get to the South and this totally unacceptable to us ” he stated.