An unidentified young man suspected to be a smuggler has died after a scuffle with the operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun I command along the bush paths of Aselu and Igua communities in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun state.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the Customs Public Relations Officer, Ogun I command, Mr. Abdullahi Maiwada, officers and men of the command at about 1pm on Saturday, went on routine anti-smuggling patrol and eventually came across a convoy of motorcycles popularly known as okada ferrying smuggled foreign parboiled rice along the bush paths of Aselu and Igua communities, Yewa North LGA in Ogun state.
Maiwada said that the smuggling gang having been caught red handed, resorted to unleashing a vicious attack on officers performing their duties with assorted dangerous weapons.
“The officers successfully repelled the attack launched by the smugglers and at the end, one of the smugglers died and his corpse has since been deposited at mortuary”, he said.
He noted that the arrival of reinforcement teams enabled the evacuation of forty-four bags of rice (50kg each) and two motorcycles abandoned by the smugglers to Government Warehouse, Abeokuta for safe keeping and further investigation.
“It is instructive to note that Saturday (25/04/2020) was a date set aside for total lockdown in Ogun state due to the surge of COVID-19 pandemic. However, the daredevil smugglers who have no regards for law of the land or the disease ravaging the global community resorted to crossing the border through illegal routes to perpetrate their nefarious activities in total disregard of the health and economic well-being of the country.
“Finally, the command wishes to reiterate and warn the public against attack on officers performing their lawful duty as such will leave the officers with no other alternative than to defend themselves”, Maiwada submitted.
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