No fewer than 50 trucks conveying essential products from different parts of the federation to the South East and South-South states were impounded in the state, allegedly on the orders of the state revenue authorities.
The revenue officials were said to be acting on a law, which prohibits haulage vehicles from passing the state from 6 am to 6 pm.
However, the action was said to be contrary to presidential directives, which gave passage to vehicles conveying such products as pharmaceutical and healthcare-related products; food and beverages products; petroleum products amongst other materials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each of the trucks was compelled to pay the sum of N50,000 to the state government.
Speaking with journalists, one of the truck drivers conveying beverages for Nestle Company, Mr. Louis Chikelue said their vehicles were impounded despite the drivers showing the task force members the authorisation pass from the federal government.
“But, one of them told us that even though we have a federal pass, we should equally obtain Imo State government pass because the government is looking for revenue.
Some of us who have perishable items have been begging them to collect N20,000 to release us but they are insisting on N50,000. We have never really been faced with this kind of problem before”, Louis said.
Another driver, who simply identified himself as Oluwatosun, said: “I am conveying pharmaceutical products to Aba and when we got Mgbidi around 6.30 pm, soldiers there stopped us from entering into the state with a reason that there is dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state.
“In the morning of Tuesday, we headed to Owerri and these task force people impounded our vehicles.
Our correspondent gathered that the 50 vehicles impounded on Tuesday were released at the cost of the N30,000 each while about 20 more trucks were impounded on Wednesday.
When our correspondent contacted Chief Ayozie at the Board of Internal Revenue, Owerri, he said the trucks were impounded for contravening the law of the state.
Ayozie, who is in charge of the board’s enforcement unit said he was made the chairman of the task force by Governor Hope Uzodimma through the chairman of the board, Mr. Emma Ononaku.
But, the chairman of the board told our correspondent that he was unaware of activities of the task force, saying they might have been people commissioned from the government house.
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