FIRS Officials attacked in Former First Lady Jonathan's Hotel in Yenagoa

Suspected militants on Wednesday attacked officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at Aridolf Resort Wellness & Spa, a hotel owned by former first lady Patience Jonathan, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.

It was gathered that the FIRS team went to the hotel in respect of tax liabilities totaling N10, 117,500 but were attacked by hoodlums suspected to be militants loyal to Dame Patience.

According to reports, the FIRS team arrived Aridolf, demanded to see the most senior staff of the hotel but without success.

The team, however, read the warrant of distrait to the hotel officials at the reception, as militants, believed to have lodged in the hotel, came out and threatened to kill the officials, claiming that the enforcement exercise was illegal.

According to the FIRS official “We demanded that they should phone the manager to inform him of the team’s presence and mission, but they ignored the demand, when one of the directors of the hotel, Mr. Victor, arrived the scene, we showed him the warrant of distraint and told him that the hotel owed three months VAT. A man who identified himself as Chief Anthony, arrived and threatened to shoot some my colleagues saying the warrant was not properly signed since it did not carry the seal of the agency’s chairman Babatunde Fowler.” the official said.

The official added “He claimed that the visit was a plot to ridicule Mrs. Jonathan, and that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, sent FIRS officials to plant cash in the premises. Then Anthony ordered the militants not to allow them leave the premises until ‘Mummy’ comes. He then ordered them (the militants) to arrest the team leader and some other officials. The armed militants forced the FIRS officials to remove the seal already placed at entrance of the hotel’s salon and gym as well as to unlock the hotel entrance.”

The Eagle Online reports that the militants forced the team leader, a newspaper reporter and an NTA camera man that accompanied the team into a room, where they were beaten up.

Their phones were also seized and images on them deleted. They also deleted items stored in the camera