Customs Officers Shot Rice-Smuggling Man In Lagos

…Not True Service Spokes Man

Folake Sokoya 

 

Some officials of the Federal Operation Unit, FOU, of Nigerian Customs Service on Wednesday allegedly shot a man to death in the Oko-Oba area of Lagos State.

The officials had reportedly chased a yellow commercial bus, popularly called Danfo, to the spot and opened fire on it.

According to eyewitnesses, the yet-to-be-identified victim was on the bus suspected to be carrying smuggled bags of rice

The operatives of the FOU were said to have fled the scene after shooting the man in the head.

Angry youths made bonfires on the road in protest but were later dispersed by police officers.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Oti, confirmed the killing.

Meanwhile, the Controller Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, has said the story circulating on social media that some officers shot an unknown smuggler around the Abuke-Egba area of Lagos state is false.

The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jerry Attah on behalf of FOU ‘A Controller said that the report is the figment of the reporter’s imagination, which is capable of misleading the general public hence the need to state the true facts.

“On the 17TH of January 2018 at about 05.30hrs, Operatives of the Federal Operations Unit acting on a tip-off traced one LT Bus Loaded with unspecified bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice from Sango Area and eventually stopped it at Abule Egba

“Before he was finally halted at Abule Egba, the driver started shouting and making inciting comments that attracted mob action against the officers with different dangerous weapons such as broken bottles, stones and cutlasses. Obviously, he had driven to where he could get his associates to help attack the Customs Officers.

“Given support of the mob, he resisted lawful arrest and the other armed operatives fired shots in the air to disperse the raging mob but to no avail. As a responsible organization, the Officers retracted back to avoid any casualty.  We appreciate and thank God that no life was lost as at the time of the confrontation even though two of our Officers sustained injuries.”Attah explained.

He stated further that “for the avoidance of doubt, the fact that a smuggler has evaded scrutiny either by following unapproved route or compromising any Officer does not guarantee that the smuggled item will not be seized anywhere it is found by patrol officers whose duty is to ensure compliance.”

The Controller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ Ikeja, Comptroller Mohammed Uba, while lamenting the misleading report urged media practitioners to verify their facts before rushing to the press.