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Nigerian Customs Kill Pregnant Woman, Schoolgirl, Motorcyclist
The Officials of Nigerian Custom Service (NCS) yesterday allegedly shot dead a Pregnant-Woman, a Female Secondary School Girl and a Commercial Motorcycle Rider, while chasing rice smugglers at Kola, Agbado Ijaiye area of Lagos State. Telegraph Reports
Witnesses said the Customs officials were chasing a commercial bus carrying bags of rice. It was learnt that after apprehending the supposedly smugglers, the Customs officials attempted to impound the vehicle and seized the bags of rice.
However, the suspected smugglers resisted the attempt which made the NCS officials to start shooting. In the process, stray bullets hit the three victims at different locations in the area. The incident, which occurred about 8a.m., was said to have caused panic among the residents of the area.
The motorcycle rider, Saheed Omotosho, was taking his motorcycle from the riders’ park when the stray bullet hit him in the chest.
The killings sparked a spontaneous protest by commercial bus drivers and motorcyclists before they were dispersed by a team of policemen from Alakuko police station. The incident also caused gridlock on both sides of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway as the protesters impeded free movement of vehicles.
The protesters also made bonfire at Moshalashi bus stop to register their grievance over the gruesome murder of their colleague. Our correspondent also learnt that the other two victims of the shooting spree by the Customs officials were an unidentified secondary school student and a pregnant woman.
A resident of the area, who identified himself simply as Ademola, said the commercial bus was coming from Sango-Ota in Ogun State with many bags of rice when the NCS officials started chasing it.
He said:
“It appeared that the driver refused to stop for the Customs officials and they chased him to Moshalashi area where they started shooting sporadically.
I was inside my shop when I heard sounds of gunshots and everybody started running in different directions.”
The road was full of many people, mostly women, who were trying to take their children from school.
“I only saw the Okada rider (motorcyclist) after the stray bullet from Customs officials hit him. But the other two people, a pregnant woman and a secondary schoolgirl, were also hit by stray bullets on Ogunmola Street.”
Ademola said that the Customs officials also shot repeatedly to prevent policemen, who were drafted to the scene, from arresting them.
According to him, the NCS officials fled while still shooting. Some residents of the area urged Lagos and the Ogun State governments to find a lasting solution to the menace of Customs officers in the area. The Chairman of the motorcycle riders, Mr. Kazeem Adekunle, accused the Customs officials of abandoning the border to man an illegal checkpoint between Sango Toll Gate and Awori U-turn.
He said:
“This is not the first time such incident had occurred in this area. The Customs officials cannot be chasing smugglers from Idiroko into communities, because they were at the border posts when the goods were coming into the country.”
One of the motorcyclist’s friends, who did not want his name in print, described Omotosho’s death as very unfortunate.
He said:
“We were all at our park when we saw the Customs officials chasing the commercial bus. Immediately we saw the manner the Customs were shooting, we ran away. But the deceased went to the park to pick his motorcycle and the stray bullet hit him.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident. She said:
“In the early hours of today (yesterday) about 7:00am some Customs officials were on the trail of a vehicle. They started shooting. In the process, one passer-by was shot dead.
The patrol team, led by the DPO of Alakuko division, moved to the area to douse the tension. The Customs officials fired sporadically and escaped from the scene.”
Badmos said victim’s body was evacuated to the morgue while investigations had commenced into the matter.
