Touts tarnishing AMAC’s image over revenue collection —Council chair

The Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said that touts are impersonating officials of the council assigned to collect revenue for the council, thereby tarnishing the council’s image. Speaking at the training of about 200 staff of the Mobile Advert Unit in revenue collection, AMAC chairman, […]

The Chairman of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said that touts are impersonating officials of the council assigned to collect revenue for the council, thereby tarnishing the council’s image.

Speaking at the training of about 200 staff of the Mobile Advert Unit in revenue collection, AMAC chairman, Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Kingsley Madaki, said the council will soon fish out the touts.

He said: “It is unfortunate that many touts are tarnishing the image of AMAC by harassing motorists using our name. The people you see here are our real staff. Annually, we train and retrain them, for them to know the implications of what they accepted to do as their job.”

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“We do the training twice a year. We invite professionals and security agencies from the military, the police, NSCDC and others to train them on how to approach our clients on revenue collection.

“Sometimes we even send them to Lagos. Sometimes, we send them outside the country. It is not as if we don’t know what we are doing. What they are doing is under the ambit of the law. The touts who people complain are harassing them are not AMAC staff.

“They wear jackets and claim to be AMAC staff, but when we arrest them, they will claim to be from NURTW or DOAS, that is FCTA. So, there is a difference between AMAC officials and the touts. The executive chairman of AMAC has given a directive. From next week Monday, you will see a special taskforce that will be picking them one after the other.’’