Delta warns against breaking of govt seal, slams N.5m on defaulter

The Delta State Government has warned that it will deal with land and property owners who take laws into their hands by unsealing property that are sealed for tax default and violation of lay down law.

The resolve by the government was necessitated by shocking discoveries made by the Joint Taskforce on Ground Rent and Operation Show Your Building Plan of unpatriotic acts by owners of businesses with total disregard to the law.

According to the Chairman of the Taskforce on Operation Show Your Building Plan, Mr Chidi Nwuko, the criminal acts including breaking of the state government seal by some business operators was discovered during a special monitoring exercise on defaulting sealed-up business premises in the capital territory.

The Chairman expressed disbelieve at the incessant manner the law was flagrantly flouted by those who supposedly should obey it’.

He recalled that the Manager of Chipet Petrol Station along Asaba-Onitcha Express Way suffered the fate of outright arrest last weekend for breaking the state government seal in the premises of the filling station by men of the Delta Police Command, Asaba.

The culprit he disclosed had since been arraigned and slammed with a fine of N 500,000.00 (five hundred thousand naira) as penalty fee.

Expressing hope that the arrest would serve as deterrent to others who may have contemplated breaking the state government seal, he stressed that government was committed to dealing decisively with anyone found wanting.

The chairman therefore advised owners of businesses as well as those of land and property to imbibe a culture of responsibility by adhering to the rules of operations guiding them.