Not fewer than nine senior officials of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have been detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for fraud allegations running into billions of naira.
The officials, who have been in EFCC custody since April 1, include the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) of the FIRS, Mohammed Auta.
Also, the Coordinating Director, Support Services Group of the FIRS, Peter Hena, who is currently out of the country is billed to be apprehended upon return.
Hena is believed to be one of the closest officials to the FIRS chairman, Babatunde Fowler.
Investigation is yet to reveal whether or not Mr Fowler is involved in the scandal.
However, Auta and Hena are being investigated for allegedly diverting about N6 billion tax funds that should have gone to the Nigerian government, anti-corruption officials said.
It was learnt that most of the other affected officials are from the finance and account department of the FIRS.
EFCC is closing in on several other senior officials of the revenue collection service in a widening investigation to uncover other fraudulent activities involving several billions of government tax revenues, PremiumTimes reports.
The EFCC spokesperson, Orilade Tony, confirmed to newsmen that the officials were detained at the EFCC office in Wuse 2, Abuja.
