One person was feared killed at the
Tollgate end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Sango-Ota, Ogun State, on
Tuesday, when operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and smugglers
clashed.
The identity of the person killed could not be ascertained, but the victim was believed to be a suspected smuggler.
Our correspondent gathered that
pandemonium broke out when hoodlums, suspected to be smugglers, attacked
the convoy of the customs operatives from the Federal Operations Unit,
Ikeja, conveying seized 45 bags of rice and 258 cartons of turkey
alleged to have been smuggled through the Idiroko end of the Republic of
Benin.
The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State
Area Command of the NCS, Mr. Abdullahi Maiwada, said NCS operatives
were conveying the seized goods to the NCS warehouse in Ikeja, Lagos,
when the clash occurred.
He said the vehicles conveying the
contraband were a Mazda car, with number plate, KTU 504 AL, and an
unregistered Volkswagen Passat.
He said, “Our operatives had intercepted
two vehicles conveying the contraband – a Mazda, with number plate, KTU
504 AL, which conveyed 45 bags of smuggled rice; the other car was an
unregistered Volkswagen Passat, which conveyed 258 cartons of poultry
product.
“It was while our operatives were taking
the seized goods to a government warehouse in Ikeja that hoodlums
attacked them around the Tollgate area in Sango-Ota. Our officers had to
save their lives and protect the seized contraband. It was during the
ensuing clash that one of the hoodlums was shot dead.”
Maiwada said following the clash,
hoodlums who were irked by the killing of the victim, stormed the
customs checkpoint at Atan, along Sango-Idi Iroko Road, and destroyed
about five vehicles.
He lamented that one of the patrol Hilux
vehicles belonging to the NCS was set ablaze, while another had its
screen smashed. He added that three other cars belonging to residents
were vandalised.
He said one of the officers of NCS was also attacked and he was receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
He said, “One of our officers had to take refuge at a nearby police station during the clash.”
The customs’ spokesman said the situation has been brought under control, while investigation had started.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, also confirmed the incident.
He said, “The clash occurred this
morning (Tuesday) between smugglers and the operatives of the Nigeria
Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit. Ikeja, at the Tollgate end of
the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and one of the smugglers was killed in the
clash.
“Policemen from the Sango-Ota Police
Station in Ogun State and Alagbado Police Division in Lagos State, were
deployed in the area to restore law and order.”
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