Anambra disowns, probes revenue agents blamed for road crash
The Anambra State Government has disowned the revenue agents, whose activities were said to have allegedly caused the tragic road crash that involved multiple vehicles at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area of the state on Sunday.
In a statement on Monday, Christian Aburime, the Press Secretary to the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, said the “revenue agents” were not the state government revenue officials, insisting that state revenue officials do not conduct operations on Sundays.
PUNCH Metro had reported that three persons died in a road crash when a truck failed brakes and rammed into two tricycles and other vehicles at Oba, along the Onitsha-Owerri Road, on Sunday.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the crash had blamed some revenue agents for the crash, disclosing that the accident occurred because they stopped the tricycles and were demanding loading tickets.
But while extending sympathies to the families affected by the unfortunate incident, the Anambra State government in the statement denied the involvement of its revenue officials but vowed to probe the incident to ascertain the true identities of those fingered.
The statement read, “The Anambra State Government has addressed the recent tragic accident involving multiple vehicles at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area. While extending sympathies to the families affected by this unfortunate incident, the state government denies the involvement of its revenue officials in activities leading to it.
“It has come to our attention that certain individuals are spreading information, claiming that the accident was caused by the operations of the Anambra State Government revenue officials.
“We categorically state that this allegation is completely untrue. Government revenue officials do not conduct operations on Sundays, and they were not present at the scene of the accident.
“The cause of the accident has been traced to a vehicular brake failure of a truck sloping down to Oba and Onitsha from the Owerri area, leading to the multiple accidents and the associated fatalities.”
He said the government revenue service had not authorised anyone or agent for revenue collection on the highways, either on state or federal roads, not to mention weekends.
“All government revenue partners can be identified with identification cards and numbers, and the public is entitled to request the photograph shots of all government revenue agents and field officers for authentication purposes,” he said.
The state government urged the public to call any of the following telephone lines if anyone has reasons to doubt or suspect the authenticity of any state government revenue personnel: 07066727750, 09053234816, 090166905784, 08083066051, 08178070000.
“However, Soludo has vowed that, aside from the mechanical factor of brake failure, illegal agents found operating on the highways within the state will be arrested and prosecuted
“As always, Anambra State Government under the leadership of Soludo remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its citizens,” the statement added.
