…Says media blackmail does not take the place of law

The state chairman of Revenue task force, Mr. Malachi Monye has called on Deltans with claims of extortion to report to the appropriate quarters instead of running to the media to blackmail the taskforce.

He stated that the taskforce does not tolerate extortion and that anyone found guilty of such indecent act will be punished and the unit disbanded if the complainants follow due process and show proof of extortion.

He noted that revenue agents under his taskforce are not allowed to extort anyone and that there are dedicated state account numbers that offenders can pay penalties to.

Mr Malachi noted that there are reasons to doubt the veracity of the trending story of extortion by revenue taskforce given the content of the news article in circulation.

He noted with concerns that if the woman in question indeed existed, why would her identity be withheld when she has nothing to loose by exposing a supposed ills in the Society, he went further to point out that the law does not allow you to drive without a licence or expired papers as those renders the vehicle not road worthy and there is no penalty stated by the law below fifty thousand Naira for such offences therefore it is clear that the figure quoted by the author of the malicious article is conflicting with facts.

Further more, he pointed out that the woman should have a smart phone and would have atleast discretely captured the agents and even the vehicle but no such evidence is handy.

Another crack in the half baked story is that the writer clearly wrote that the office she had transaction with were VIO and DETSMA yet went ahead to accuse the revenue taskforce. This can only show you the malicious intent of the writer.

Mr. Malachi reiterated that the purpose of one’s movement was not considered in the law guiding the activities of the taskforce, irrespective of your destination, it is unlawful to drive without a valid license or expired documents, when you do that it is an offence in the eyes of the law, the law states that the vehicle will be out off the road, so if caught the taskforce will help you to put the vehicle off the road for your safety and that of other road users. you would have to pay a penalty for going against the law, then you have to get the needed papers and licence validated before coming to get the vehicle. In a case where it’s exceeds the date the vehicle was out off the road, every extra day attacks demurrage daily.

The taskforce chairman made it clear that his team can not be blackmailed with unfounded fiction stories about a non existent extortion, but when reports are properly reported through the right channel with evidence, he will spare no one who is found guilty of the offence.

Meanwhile he appealed to citizens to always do the right thing by driving with valid papers and licence no matter the emergency to avoided being fined