Anambra state government on Monday, dismissed two officials of Unified Hybrid Enforcement Team, working for the Anambra Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, for manhandling a driver and driving away with his vehicle in Onitsha.
The Chairman, Anambra Internal Revenue Service, AIRS, Dr Greg Ezeilo announced this during a media briefing in his office in Awka yesterday.
Over the weekend, the video of the two personnel from UHBET where they dragged a commercial motor driver out of his vehicle and drove away with the same vehicle, surfaced online.
The video had generated condemnation from various quarters, with many lashing out at the state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo for using touts to collect revenue.
However, while addressing newsmen in his office yesterday, the AIRS Chairman, Dr Ezeilo explained that the UHBET was formed as a professional revenue arm of the AIRS, to conduct their operations in the most civilized manner.
He said in a swift move to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of such unprofessional conduct, the UHBET leadership had in response to the public outcry gathered useful and helpful information which led to the successful arrest of its members of staff involved in that shameful act.
Ezeilo announced that those responsible for the show of shame have been dismissed from the state tax compliance enforcement team, UHBET after being seriously quizzed by the UHBET Management.
According to him, although it was discovered that the driver in question was owing about N37,000, it was not enough justification for the overzealous action of the personnel.
Dr Ezeilo said the dismissal of the officials will serve as deterrent to other over zealous personnel who go about taking laws into their hands and dragging the name of government to the mud.
According to him, the state government does not encourage such rascality and has trained its operatives to be civil and as such, will not tolerate any misconduct from its operatives.
“UHBET will continue to train and retrain its officials and in the process, purge itself of every wolf in the midst of the sheepfold once discovered.
“Revenue collection is a due process system and all steps must be taken before an enforcement is carried out unlike
“This dismissal today will be the second since the formation of UHBET and it goes to reinforce our position that unwholesome practices have no place in the state revenue system under the leadership of Mr Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo,” he said.
Apologizing to Anambra people for the public disgrace, the Anambra AIRS boss expressed the unrepentant determination of UHBET Management to give them, a professional service where taxes and government revenues are paid without hassles.
He announced that they will soon introduce Artificial Intelligence in park management in Onitsha, where every driver will have a digital wallet which will scanned to ascertain that the said driver has paid before he would be allowed entrance into the park.
He revealed that the success of the model will be replicated in all other parts of the state to ensure that issues of touting are addressed once and for all.
On how to sustain the sanitization of the UHBET for better service to the people, Ezeilo said the service has set up monitoring teams for all the LGAs to monitor operations of its officials and anyone caught wanting, will be made to face the full wrath of the law.
