Six feared killed as Customs, smugglers clash

*Police arrest seven

At least four Customs officers and two smugglers were feared to have been killed after a bloody clash at the Badagry area of Lagos State yesterday.

But a villager at the Badagry area, where the gun battle took place, claimed that the battle was between members of the village and smugglers on one hand and Customs officers on the other side.

The villager, who described the gun duel as the mother of all battles, further claimed that those killed from all factions, numbered close to 13.

He said: “It was like a battle field. 13 people were killed in all.  Five Customs officer, eight villagers and one smuggler.”

It was gathered that trouble started some Customs officers, allegedly on a reprisal attack, stormed the village, identified as Oglombo Village.

There the officers, who were determined to impound a smuggler’s vehicle, opened fire and killed the man.

The villager further explained: “The man they killed was known by us all as a smuggler. We called him Saturday. The Customs men followed him into the village and killed him. It was like they had had a battle with him before he ran into the village, but they followed him. People saw the officers, arguing with Saturday and the next thing, bang! One of them shot him!”

The villagers, who had witnessed the killing of Saturday, raised the alarm, attracting attention of other villagers. Soon, there was a mob, which embarked on a protest. Many of them claimed that the Customs officers were fond of shooting and killing at will. The mob went berserks, attacking and killing any Customs officer they came across.

The resident stated that the villagers had been looking for an opportunity to clash with the customs officers, who allegedly killed a resident of the village, two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, Customs officers were said to have killed one of the youths of the village, while he was in a car with his two friends.  

It was also learnt that the angry mob made a beeline for Customs officers building and set fire on an officer’s vehicle, before setting bonfires at the centre of the road.

Some soldiers, Customs men and policemen attached to the Seme Divison, returned to the scene and fired shots to disperse the mob.

There were clouds of flames all over Seme resulting
from sporadic shootings by the Customs, Army and mobile Policemen as if we are in a war situation.
According to information, the smuggler, Mr. Satide Ranti Ayeola (Saturday) was shot dead in front of his family house at Ashipa village.
 The Customs check point at Ashipa was attacked and one senior customs officer was killed and his vehicle set ablaze and another escaped with serious machete cuts. The check point was also raized down together with a Toyota Hilux pick - up belonging to the Customs. The Seme Customs Command under Comptroller Othman Abdu Saleh had to seek the intervention of the Army and mobile Policemen to quell the violence and the situation got messier as another youth was also fell by stray bullets.

The Aholu of Kwemeland, Oba (Dr.) Sejiro Olalekan James Ogungbe (JP) was on stand to address the youths who were visibly angry. The Oba appealed for calm and promised to finding lasting solution to the strained relationship between Seme community and security agents.
Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Razaq Fadipe, explained that his men attempted to put out the fire but they had to retreat because of the sporadic gunshots in the area.

Customs Public Relations Officer, Seme Command, Ernest Olota, said that it was only one Customs officer that was killed.  According to him, the officer was killed while on his way to attend a meeting at the command.

The statement reads thus:  “We announce the gruesome killing of one of our Senior Officers by some smugglers in the Ashipa area of Seme on around 9.50am on Thursday. The deceased officer, while in his official uniform, unarmed, and driving to the command’s headquarters for a routine meeting, was accosted by a mob who forced him out of his vehicle.  Led by an identified chief of the community, the officer was murdered in cold blood and his vehicle set ablaze.”

The customs spokesman said efforts were on to apprehend the culprits adding that customs had achieved many feats this year alone.

He said NCS operatives, due to their uncompromising stance against smuggling and protecting the nation's economy, had come under series of attacks by smugglers and some unpatriotic elements who see smuggling as their right.

“Customs Area Controller of Seme Border, Othman Abdu Saleh, has in collaboration with sister government agencies including the police, commenced moves to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book. The Controller posits that this unfortunate incident will not deter operatives of the command under his watch from carrying out their lawful duties.

''This is indeed a sad day for us here in this command, but let it me emphasised that we are not relenting in the discharge of our duty as we will not allow the darkness of criminality to dampen the light of our service to Nigeria.”

Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, however explained that trouble broke out after the Customs officers, who were trying to stop a smuggled van, opened fire and a stray bullet got the deceased. She also said that only one Customs officer was killed by the angry mob, in the ensuing mayhem, adding that seven people had been arrested by the police.