An enforcement team of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) were Wednesday attacked by militants at a hotel believed to be owned by Mrs Patience Jonathan in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
A release signed by spokesperson for the FIRS, Mr Bamidele Johnson, stated that the FIRS team, led by Mr. Chinazor Edeh, had arrived the hotel, ARIDOLF Resort Wellness and SPA, with a warrant signed by the FIRS chairman, Mr. Babatunde Fowler, to seal up the facility for an alleged non-remittance of Value Added Tax to the tune of N10,117,500 covering the period 2014-2016.
It said when the team arrived at the hotel, Mr. Edeh read the content of the warrant to the facility’s officials and later began informing lodgers and customers of the situation.
“But some militants in the hotel took over the whole place. They threatened to kill every member of the FIRS team, claiming that the enforcement was illegal,” the release said.
It added that when one of the directors of the hotel, one Mr. Victor, arrived at the scene, Edeh also briefed him of the action.
“Victor told the team that the hotel owes only three months VAT and that the staffers of the hotel have not been paid for a number of months because of payment errors,” the release stated.
