Nigeria: Lafarge raided and closed for suspected for tax evasion

Lafarge Cement Co Ltd in Onne and IGPES, an engineering company, in Port Harcourt, were raided by Nigerian enforcement officers from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Monday for tax evasion.

The leader of the FIRS team disclosed that Lafarge Cement had not paid its taxes since 2012. While the cement company's premises were sealed for failing to pay taxes of over NGN10m (US$31,695), IGPES, an engineering firm, was shut down for allegedly evading tax to the tune NGN1.2bn since 2011.

Speaking shortly after sealing the two companies, the leader of the FIRS team,‎ Ruth Mandeun, warned their management to pay their taxes to allow the reopening of their firms. Mrs Mandeun also cautioned authorities of the offending companies not to forcefully open the seals and padlocks used in locking up the premises. She explained that the two firms defaulted through the non-remittance of their VAT, company income tax, withholding tax, educational tax and late return penalty.

"The purpose of this exercise is to seal off the entire offices of ‎offending companies. If you are willing to pay within the next one hour, then you would be allowed to operate," Mrs Mandeun said.