March 18, (THEWILL) – Ogun State Government has sounded a note of warning to unauthorised individuals setting up illegal toll points to collect revenue from unsuspecting commercial motorists to desist from such acts.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr Adesina Towolawi, made this known during a meeting with some revenue agents in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Towolawi warned that any citizen found culpable of setting up illegal toll points or issuing fake tickets to exploit unsuspecting commercial motorists, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
He emphasised that the state’s harmonised ticketing system mandates all legitimate revenue collectors, to obtain official tickets from the agency, a move by the government to check illegal revenue collectors
The PS commended the Monitoring Units of the ministry over the recent exercise embarked upon that espoused the activities of illegal revenue collectors at toll points, their fake tickets as well as the exploitation tactics used to defraud motorists and other citizens.
“Ogun State Government remains resolute in maintaining law and order by ensuring that revenue generation follows legal procedures. We, therefore, assure motorists that stringent measures will continue to be enforced against illegal toll operators”, he said.
Towolawi reaffirmed that the State’s task force would intensify its efforts towards eliminating illegal revenue collection, saying that the government would not rest on ensuring offenders were brought to justice.
He urged members of the public to support the government’s efforts by reporting any suspicious activities of illegal toll points or revenue collectors in their various areas.
The PS explained that genuine revenue collectors could be identified by their official identification cards and jackets bearing names of different agencies of government-approved inscriptions.
Speaking on behalf of the agents, Mr Aderibigbe Kojeku, assured the government that such illegal activities would not reoccur, pledging that legitimate revenue collectors would cooperate with authorities to identify and report individuals engaging in unauthorised collections.
