The Anambra State Task Force on collection of illegal tolls, stealing and extortion has arrested 75 persons over alleged fake revenue collection and other various criminal offences in Onitsha, the commercial centre of the state.

The suspects were on Friday paraded before traders and the Commissioner for Commerce, Markets and Wealth Creation, Christian Madubuko.

Addressing the traders, Madubuko regretted the huge millions of naira the government had lost to the criminals, adding that government had placed a ban on the collection of revenue in the state.

He stressed that the State Government is poised to sanitise the state and to ensure that taxpayers’ money and other revenues accruing to the state are used for the development of the state.

The commissioner said: “We have a purposeful government whose policy trust is to build an enviable state that would be the investor’s first choice destination in line with the mission and vision of the state government under Chief Willie Obiano.

“These criminals have defrauded Anambra State Government of millions of naira. They brandish various fake authority payers purported to be issued by the State Government.

“I want to state clearly that Anambra State Government has not authorised anybody to collect revenue on her behalf.

“They have their paymasters and we are picking them one after the other. These criminals have made Anambra State unsafe, chased out our customers and investors.

“How can you come to the market, buy goods, put it in a vehicle and these hoodlums would be tasking the trader at every point and collecting various sums of money to the unsuspecting trader thereby giving the state government bad image?”

Madubuko called on traders and the public to arrest anybody suspected to be acting as agent of government in revenue collection.