Imo Govt nabs fake revenue collector

The Imo State Government has nabbed a man for allegedly impersonating several government agencies and carrying out illegal revenue collection operations across the state.

Vanguard gathered that the suspect (names withheld), an indigene of Ebonyi State, was arrested by the state government’s Compliance and Monitoring Team.

In an interview, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Monitoring and Compliance, Nze Chinasa Nwaneri, confirmed this development, explaining that the suspect was “caught red-handed while fraudulently enforcing revenue collection and issuing fake tickets within the Owerri municipality.”Nwaneri said, “This arrest is part of Governor Hope Uzodimma’s zero-tolerance policy for fraud and criminality in the state.“He has been operating around Imo State University junction, Orji flyover, Amakohia flyover and the Akwakuma axis.“The suspect created a network of criminal activities and falsely presented himself as an agent of various government bodies.“These include, but are not limited to, the Owerri Capital Development Authority, OCDA, Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission, ENTRACO, and the Imo State Waste Management Agency.

“We are determined to sanitize the system and ensure that only authorized agents carry out government responsibilities.”Vanguard was also told that the suspect was behind the illegal painting of commercial buses, known locally as Bus Imo. The suspect used unauthorized colours and symbols in a bid to extort money from unsuspecting drivers and traders.

Nwaneri advised residents and business owners to “always verify the identity of individuals claiming to represent any government agency and report suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities”.

Although Vanguard gathered that the suspect has since been handed over to the Nigeria Police for further investigation and prosecution, efforts to get a confirmation from the Imo State Police Command’s image maker, Mr. Henry Okoye, failed, as his mobile line remained “unreachable” at press time.