Smugglers Launch Brutal Attacks on Customs Operatives, Kill Two in Kebbi, Others Escape Death in Katsina
Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have been attacked by hoodlums suspected to be smugglers.
The attacks were at Kebbi and Katsina, according to press statements from the Service.
In a statement issued by the Kebbi Command Public Relations Officer of the Service, Mubarak Mustapha, the attack on the operatives led to the death of two officers.
The statement reads, “ On Thursday, 24th August 2023, at about 0128hrs, a team of Kebbi Area Command officers and men of the Nigeria Customs, while on a stop-and-search operation based on credible information along Bunza – Dakingari – Koko Road, were engaged with heavy gunfire by suspected bandits in an ash-coloured Toyota Corolla vehicle.
“ In the melee that ensued, two personnel of the Command, named Alhaji Kabiru Shehu, an Inspector of Customs and Abdullahi Muhammad, a Customs Assistant II, paid the supreme price. The officers have since been laid to rest according to Islamic rites.
“ While praying for the repose of the deceased, the Command has launched a manhunt for the suspects with the view to arrest and prosecute them.
“ The Customs Area Area Controller, Comptroller Ben Oramalugo, commiserates with the families on the tragic incident and prayed that God Almighty grants them the fortitude to bear the loss.
“ The CAC also urge members of the public to volunteer information about the movement of suspected smugglers and other criminals. He assured such informants of strict confidentiality”.
In another development, the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone B, Kaduna, Isah Sulaiman said that Customs operatives who were on legitimate patrol duties to the Dankama Area of Katsina State were attacked.
Part of the statement reads, “ While carrying out their statutory duties of anti-smuggling, some hoodlums suspected to be smugglers launched a brutal attack on the Officers with dangerous weapons, thereby inflicting several injuries to Inspector of Customs (IC) Haruna A.
“ The wounded Officer was immediately rushed to the hospital for proper medical attention and is responding to treatment.
“ It is pertinent to state that the Nigeria Customs Service is an agency that is saddled with the responsibility of enforcing government fiscal policies for collective societal good”.
The Service warned that its Unit’s Officers would not “fold their arms and allow smugglers who have no regard for the laws of the land to perpetrate their nefarious activities to the detriment of our security and economic well-being.
“ On this note, Comptroller FOU ‘B’, Musa Ibrahim Jalo, is very concerned about the injuries inflicted on his officer and directed a full-scale investigation to fish out the perpetrators of this barbaric act.
“ He stated that any further attacks on any Officer of the Unit would not be tolerated and would be treated with utmost resistance from our Operatives.
“ He added that such violent attacks will never deter the operatives of the Unit from carrying out their legitimate duties, no matter whose ox is gored.
“He appealed to traditional rulers, parents and community leaders to warn their subjects to desist from attacking security operatives, as anyone caught shall face the consequences of his action”.
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