CUSTOMS PURSUE RICE CARRIER TO DEATH,CAUSES INJURIES FOR FOUR OTHERS
Omooba Risawe
Nigeria Customs Services, Ogun State Command on Wednesday allegedly pursued a rice conveyor to death,and also caused injuries for four others in the course of pursuing them.
The incident which resulted in pandemonium occurred along Kobape-Siun- Abeokuta highway when customs officials allegedly shot tyre of one of the vehicles conveying bags of rice to Sagamu.
An eyewitness Shola Josiah disclosed that the deceased Saubanna and four other drivers, including himself, had left Kuto market in Abeokuta around 9:30a.m, with their vehicles loaded with 25 bags of rice, heading to Sagamu.
He added that Customs intercepted them at Sowo Village along around 9:30a.m Kobape road and gave them a hot chase.
“We had left Kuto Market in Abeokuta with our vehicles loaded with 25 bags of rice each. When we got to Sowo Village we saw Customs’ vehicle with men inside it’.
“I thought there won’t be any issue because we normally pay them N5,000 on each trip. Before I knew what was happening, they had started giving us hot chase. They caught up with me, while Saubana’s car tyres were blown out with gun shot and his Mazda 626 car eventually somersaulted into a ditch”, Josiah stated.
He, however, alleged that customs operative still shot Saubana at close range, after bullet had hit him around the thigh and managed to crawl out the car wreckage.
Speaking further,Josiah, said his vehicle was seized and driven to the state command of the customs,stating that two other drivers escaped.
However, the ugly development turned violence along the busy road, as other colleagues of the killed driver stormed the scene,causing traffic jam
The protesters later took the corpse of their colleague, to Command headquarters of the Customs at the quarry road in Abeokuta and tried to force their way into the Command.
It, however, took the combined effort of men of Nigeria Army, police and men of Ogun state Vigilance Service, to prevent the irate protesters from gaining entry into the Command.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the command, Usman Abdulahi, denied the allegtion,saying the information at his disposal was that smugglers were sighted by customs operatives along Siun-Kobape road and in an attempt to escape arrest, one of the smugglers had an accident.
“The information at my disposal is that one of our patrol teams went on routine patrol this morning along Kobape-Sagamu Interchange. Based on credible information to them that some smugglers were coming through that route, they waylaid the smugglers’,he said.
“On sighting Customs vehicle, the occupants of those vehicles now started on top speed. In the course of the operation, one of the vehicles fell into a ditch. The occupants of that vehicle left and ran away. Our men now brought the vehicle down to Abeokuta station. So, that is the information I have’,Usman said.
“There was no shootout with anybody. Our men have no cause to shoot anybody. They are well trained and they operate according to international best practices’,he emphasised.
“The police have been invited, we are on top of the situation. The matter is under investigation by the Customs and the police. So after a thorough a investigation, we will now give you full details of what happened”. Usman explained.
In his own comment, Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi said ,the commaaand has deployed it’s men to the scene,to avoid any bloody clash.
‘The Commissioner of Police has already deployed officers and men of the command to the scene to calm the fray nerves. Right now, the Area commanders Of Shagamu and Abeokuta metro are there with other senior police officers. We are on top of the situation’,he said.
