A Revenue Mobile Court in Delta State, sitting in the Asaba Judicial District, has sentenced three persons to imprisonment for illegally mounting road blocks and collecting revenue, along the Issele Uku axis of the ever busy Asaba-Benin expressway.
The convicts are Ifeanyi Obinor, 34, from Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State; Victor Joseph, 28, from Gombi Local Government Area, Adamawa State; and Burema Midingawa, 19, from Karim Lamido Local Government Area, Taraba State.
The Court, in its decision on the case brought before it by the Delta State Internal Revenue Service Task Force on Illegal Revenue Collectors, sentenced Ifeanyi Obinor to three years’ imprisonment with hard labour or an option of a fine of One point Five Million Naira.
The duo of Victor Joseph and Burema Midingawa were handed two years’ imprisonment each or an option of a fine of One Million Naira.
The imprisonment is to commence forthwith upon the expiration of any other terms and are to be concurrent and consecutive.
The Special Task Force, acting on a tip-off, had swooped on an illegal group impersonating government revenue agents and extorting levies ranging from ₦10,000 to ₦15,000 from truck drivers along the Asaba-Benin Expressway, at Issele-Uku junction.
It was gathered that the group usually commenced their illegal activities at 8:00 PM daily, blocking the highway with heavy logs and causing massive gridlocks on the Expressway.
A source revealed, “Following public outcry against the menace of these touts, the DSIRS Taskforce and Operation Delta Sweep raided the location on March 12, 2026, arresting three individuals at the scene while others, including security agents, escaped into the bush”.
The source continued, “On March 17, 2026, the three suspects – Burema Midingawa, Victor Joseph, and Obinor Ifeanyi, were arraigned at the Revenue Mobile Court, presided over by a Senior Magistrate, and sentenced to various jail terms after pleading guilty to the charge of illegal revenue collection”.
Reacting to the development, the Executive Chairman, Delta State Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Hon Solomon Ighrakpata, decried the continued involvement of persons in illegal revenue collections in the state, despite repeated sensitization and warnings against such practices.
Hon Ighrakpata said the Internal Revenue Service was not relenting in its efforts to curb the menace, saying that such activities undermine the state’s revenue service law and create an unfavorable business environment.
“This verdict sends a strong message to would-be offenders that the Delta State government will not tolerate any form of illegal revenue collection”, Ighrakpata stated.
The Executive Chairman assured that the IRS would continue to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute individuals involved in such activities.
Ighrakpata also urged citizens to report any instances of illegal revenue collection to the relevant authorities, saying that the state government is committed to providing a conducive business environment for all at all times and at all levels.
He reminded the people that in line with the new federal tax law, levies, charges and taxes are not to be collected on the roads, stressing that anyone caught doing so will face the wrath of the law.