73-year-old serial revenue racketeer jailed two years in Kwara
By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
A Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, has convicted a 73-year-old trader, Bashir Alabi of Gbagba Area, Ilorin, for offences bordering on falsifications of vehicle documents.
Recall that Alabi was handed over to the Police for investigation on confirmation by the KW-IRS Motor Licensing Authority Office, Pake in Ilorin that the vehicle documents he presented for processing were fake.
An extensive investigation on the case led to the arrest of additional three suspects, Ogunmoroti Akindele, 56; Idowu Adebisi, 73, and Johnson Ariyo, 32, by the Monitoring Unit of the Kwara State Police Command for allegedly possessing incriminating documents and for alleged involvement in the trade of printing and selling of fake Kwara State Vehicle Documents.
Further investigations by the police also established recovery of forged and fake Kwara State Vehicle Documents from the shop of one Jamiu, who is now at large.
Having established a case of falsification, forgery and conspiracy by the police, all the suspects were arraigned before Chief Magistrate A. M. Ibrahim. While the first suspect, Bashir Alabi, pleaded guilty to the offences as charged and was given summary trial and sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of fine, the other three suspects, who pleaded not guilty, were ordered to be remanded in prison custody, pending further trial of the case.
The case was adjourned till 19th April, 2022 for mention and for hearing.
Meanwhile, the Executive Chairman of the Kwara state Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS), Mrs Shade Omoniyi, has warned individuals in the act of revenue diversion and racketeering to desist forthwith to avoid the full wrath of the law.
She also enjoined the people of the state to always deal directly with revenue officers of the KW-IRS at the various revenue touch points located across the State, or transact through the online platforms of the Service and desist from illegality and patronage of agents for any revenue transaction that could put them in jeopardy.