BEVERLY HILLS, May 23, (THEWILL) – The Chairman of the Cross River State Anti-Tax Agency, Bishop Emmah Gospel Isong says about 40 Suspects have been arrested by the agency. He said the suspects awaiting prosecution will have their day in court when the courts in the state resume sitting.
Bishop Isong made this known in Calabar during the one year anniversary/stakeholders workshop organised by the agency. He said the agency has made modest achievements in it’s one year of existence.
“We have confronted thousands of illegal tax activities in the state. With very swift operations with joint security forces we have made not less than forty arrests. Because the judiciary is on strike they suspects are pending arraignment. We hope this will serve as a strong deterrent to those who are still perpetuating this Shylock, oppressive and anti-Ayade activity”, he said.
He said he has been threatened in the course of his assignment but said he has forgiven those who did that and prays they see reason why they should desist from that act.
He listed about 12 other achievements of the agency within the past twelve months which includes encouraging small and medium scale businesses by taking the tax burden off them.
Isong advised residents to become wiser and reject empowerment by politicians because illegal taxes are also used to finance the empowerment. He said the people should throw away the empowerment and bags of rice but insist on affordable housing, increased salaries and other basic amenities.
Also speaking, secretary of the Agency, Rev. fr. Julius Ada said the philosophy behind the creation of the agency is to build a better future for the people of the state. He said the agency is working on strategic plans that will help fuel the state’s economy and their target is to achieve zero taxation and also become the first tax free state in food production by the end of the year.
Williams Anwan, the legal Adviser of the Agency said 3 magistrates have been assigned to the agency by the state government.
According to him, illegal taxation is an economic crime but the agency will go for noncustodial sentencing. He said some of the convicts will also be deployed to farms where they will work so that the energy they used to collect illegal taxes can be deployed to agriculture.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
