Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ambrose Aisabor, has threatened to sack any policeman who accompanies revenue agents to collect revenue in the state. Aisabor issued the warning while interacting with journalists in his office in Umuahia on Thursday, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.Armed policemen usually accompany revenue collectors to offices and homes to enforce the payment of various revenues introduced in the state. Asiabor said that revenue collection was not one of the primary responsibilities of the police and that any policeman caught accompanying tax collectors would be sacked along with his supervisor.
“No organisation, whether private or public, has my authority for police to assist his agency in collecting revenue.
“I have received several applications on that, but I turned them down because it is not the duty of the police to collect revenue.
“I know the state government engaged a revenue consultant and the police (command) was duly informed, but police is not under any obligation to give the consultant policemen,” he said.
Aisabor noted that the warning became necessary to absolve the police from any such act that had made critics to blackmail the police in the past.
“If you want to collect your revenue, go about it in a lawful manner. If somebody refuses to pay, take him or her to the law court for necessary action; that is how things are done in refined societies,” he stated
Aisabor, who reviewed the activities of his command in the last seven months, said that he was impressed with the operations and conducts of his men when compared with others in the South-East and beyond.
The commissioner, who enjoined the public to support police, attributed the performance of the command to the good dispositions of the Gov. Theodore Orji, to security operatives and commitment to duty by the personnel.