Supposed agents of government accused of duping unsuspecting members of the public across Delta State, have allegedly defrauded land owners in Asaba of N3 million.
The victims, it was gathered, included those who left their lands undeveloped for years, allowing such parcels to be overgrown with weeds, a situation the fraudulent agents took advantages of, to carry out their fraudulent act.
Addressing journalists on Thursday in Asaba, the victims: Mr. Emmanuel Akporobo, Johnbull Osaweh and Nwanbudike Awani, admitted leaving the landed property they bought many years ago over lack of funds to develop them, adding that the lands were taken over by weeds.
They said, “We saw the agents with receipt booklets that they were working for the state government that were issued to us for N1 million each or we will forfeit the lands to government, we had to borrow money to pay, the lands are in GRA of Asaba”.
They disclosed that after making payments, the said agents disappeared, forcing them to report the matter to the police at GRA Police Division, Asaba, for investigation.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Mustafa Muhammed had on Wednesday confirmed to newsmen that some unscrupulous fraudsters posing as government agents were on the prowl, but that the police were on their trail.
He urged members of the public to report to the nearest police station such suspicious cases, explaining that the fraudsters’ modus operandi is to disguise as government’s revenue agents to visit undeveloped plots of land, get the contacts of the rightful owners and rip them off.
Muhammed said: “We are investigating the three owners of land in Asaba that were rip-off N3million, and very soon the police will bring them (the fraudsters) to book”.
The State Government through the Commissioner of Finance, Mr. David Edevbie, in a statement he issued, disowned the agents and their activities, saying: “it has come to the attention of the state government that some unscrupulous members of the public currently masquerade as community development and revenue agents issuing revenue demand notices to companies operating in their communities for the purposes of collecting fees and levies from them”.
A copy of the statement made available to DAILY POST read in part; “for the avoidance of doubts, the State and Local Governments are only organs authorized by law to collect taxes, and other levies as encapsulated in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the State Internal Revenue Consolidation Law of 2009, by these provisions, no individual or group of individuals is mandated to demand or collect any kind of tax, fees or levies from individuals or organizations operating in their communities”.
The statement advised members of the public and organisations not to deal with any other person or persons who serve demand notices concerning state taxes, levies, fees, if such does not emanate from the board of internal revenue or the commissioner of finance.
It added that security agencies have duly been put on notice to arrest the group of persons ripping off land owners and put a stop to their illegal activities.
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