By Niyi Ogungbola
A Nigeria Customs officer (NCS) has been reportedly killed by suspected smugglers in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.
First Awareness reports that,the incident happened on Tuesday at Fagbohun village via Idogo/Ipaja .
It was gathered that,when the officers, who were from the Federal Operating Unit (FOU) arrived the village for an operation.the smugglers on sighting them reportedly attacked the officers with dangerous weapons to include guns, cutlasses and local charms.
In the process of unleashing terror on the unsuspected officers two of them got missing with their rifles First Awareness further gathered.
On Wednesday, the lifeless body of one of the missing officers was reportedly found in a river near Ajegun Iyaloosa village without his rifle, while the other is still being searched for.
Confirming the unfortunate incident,the Public Relations Officer of the FOU in Zone A, Theophilus Duniya, said that, some suspects have been arrested.
Duniya disclosed that, “The attacked officers are from FOU. One is confirmed dead, while the other one is still missing.
“It happened on Tuesday in the afternoon. They were on information patrol when they were attacked. It was an unprovoked attacked that ended the life of one and the other one is still missing.
“The one that was found dead, his rifle was missing; but we can’t say for the other one that is still missing until we get to the end of it. At the moment we have some suspects in custody in relation to that murder.”
Speaking further, Duniya appealed to Nigerians to desist from attacking customs officers, who he said were doing the lawful job assigned to them by the Federal Government.
“The message to the masses has always been that, these officers are on lawful duty. They didn’t assign themselves. They are officers of the Federal Republic, and what the Federal Government said through our laws is what they are out to enforce. They are not there to fight anybody, they are not there on their own will. They are taken there to enforce the government fiscal policies. Anywhere customs officers are seen, if they cannot assist them to carry out their operations, they should not attack them. Because these people have families. They come from villages and communities as well and they are human beings. They also deserve a right to live,” he stressed.
When asked for the identities of the affected officers,Duniya said he would not disclose the identities of the two officers saying ,he was not sure yet if,their families have been contacted officially.
“I cannot release their identities to you because at the moment, I’m not sure if their families have been contacted. So we need to reach out to their families officially before we go to the press,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, residents of Fagbohun village were said to have fled the sleepy community as of Wednesday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment