The Enugu State Board of Internal Revenue on Monday sealed 36 branches of eight commercial banks allegedly indebted to the state government to the tune N1bn.
The exercise, which started by 6 a.m, was carried out at 23 locations of the affected banks across the Coal City.
Addressing newsmen after the exercise, the Chairman of the BIR, Mr Emeka Odo, said that the board sealed the banks due to their failure to remit about N1bn owed the state government.
Odo said that the board had in Feb. 6, obtained an ex parte order from the state high court to distrain the affected banks.
He said that the debts were part of the withholding taxes they were supposed to remit to the state government which dated back to 2007.
The affected financial institutions are Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Skye Bank, Union Bank and Unity Bank.
The other banks are; Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank and Sterling Bank.
He said, “The branches of the affected banks which are now under lock and key will remain locked until they pay to the state government the taxes they have collected on its behalf.
“In the past one year we have written the affected banks severally and held meetings with them on the subject matter but they would rather hold onto government funds illegally.”
Odo said that the eight banks had combined branch network of 36 branches in Enugu urban and the neighbouring towns of Agbani and Ituku Ozalla.
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