The Ogun State Government has sealed the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone located in Igbesa, a local government area of the state, over the failure of its operators to fulfil their financial obligations to the state. According to Channels Television, the action was carried out by the Ogun State Internal Revenue Service, which moved against the zone after months of unresolved tax issues. The sealing marks a significant escalation in the state's drive to compel compliance from large operators within its borders.
Officials of the Ogun State Internal Revenue Service said the operators' conduct amounted to a violation of the state's existing tax laws. They stressed that the failure to pay was not a one-off lapse but a repeated default that had continued despite many visits and formal notifications to the management of the free trade zone. In their account, the authorities had exhausted the usual administrative steps before resorting to the drastic measure of sealing the premises.
The enforcement exercise, however, did not go smoothly and quickly descended into chaos. When the team moved to implement the sealing order, it was met with resistance and barricades that obstructed access to the site. In the course of the confrontation a policeman was injured, a cameraman was manhandled, and a camera was broken, underscoring the level of hostility that greeted the revenue officials at the zone.
The operation was led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Revenue, Mr Oladeji Desanwo, who spoke about the long-running effort to bring the organisation into compliance. He explained that for the past four or five years the authorities had been trying to get the operators to pay their taxes, but the management had not been forthcoming. According to him, the lawlessness encountered during the exercise illustrated the difficulties revenue officials face when enforcing the rules.
He further recalled that at one point the previous year, the operators had given an undertaking to settle their obligations within a month. Despite that commitment, they reneged on the promise and continued to default, leaving the state with little choice but to act. The repeated breaking of assurances was cited as a key reason behind the decision to finally seal the facility rather than extend further deadlines.
As a result of the persistent default, the revenue service confirmed that the free trade zone would remain sealed until the operators come forward to meet their obligations. The episode highlights the growing assertiveness of sub-national governments in Nigeria as they seek to widen their internally generated revenue and hold even large industrial entities to account. It also raises questions about the working relationship between the state and major investment hubs that operate within its jurisdiction.