Scenes of the incident
customs officer has reportedly shot another person dead while trying to extort money from some European returnees.
According to a report by Punch Metro, a Customs officer has killed a
civilian, Godwin Onoja, while allegedly trying to extort N5,000 bribe
from travellers coming from Europe on the Sagamu end of the
Lagos-Ore-Benin Expressway.
It was gathered that the victim was shot during an altercation
between the officers of the Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria
Customs Service, Ikeja, Lagos, and some travellers, who boarded an Iyare
Motors’ passenger bus travelling to Benin City from Lagos on Sunday.
One of the passengers, Mr Oliver Joseph, who lives in France, said
he and the other passengers in the bus arrived at the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on Saturday evening.
According to him, whenever he and his co-travellers get into
Nigeria, they usually contract Iyare Motors to convey them to Benin from
the Lagos airport.
He added that they booked the vehicle when they got to Nigeria,
adding that the driver came to the airport on Sunday morning as
arranged to convey them to Benin.
Joseph stated that when they got to the Sagamu intersection of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, some Customs officials asked the driver to
stop.
He stated, “The driver stopped and asked them what the matter
was. The driver told them that the bus belonged to Iyare Motors and it
was pointless to ask him to stop. Immediately the driver parked, one of
the officers came and asked who owned the luggage. The driver told him
that the luggage belonged to the passengers. The customs officer asked
us where we were coming from and we told him that we were coming from
overseas and that we were here on a visit.
“He said he had interest in the luggage and needed to check
them one by one. We told him that they had been checked at the airport.
He replied that he must carry out his job and ordered us to alight from
the bus. One of them then called the driver and asked him to give them
N5,000 for them to allow us to go. We heard the driver saying that he
did not have the money and that we did not have anything illegal. The
driver then told us that the Customs officers demanded N5,000 from us.
“We eventually agreed that our luggage be searched and one of
us insisted that he would record it so that they won’t place contraband
in our bags. So, the guy brought out his iPhone 6, but one of the
officers demanded to have the phone but the passenger refused, saying
that the price of the phone could pay his salary.
“The officer just took some steps back, cocked his gun and
fired. Immediately he fired, a man fell down. Before we knew it, one of
the two Customs officers in green sweater ran into the bush, leaving the
others. We were 10 passengers in the bus and when we took a headcount,
we were complete. There was blood all over the victim’s face, so we
could not recognise him.
“The officer tried to run away, but we held him by the uniform
insisting that he had to follow us to the nearest police station.”
The manager of Iyare Motors, Benin City, Mr Aghimien Osahon,
thanked God that none of the passengers lost their lives in the process.
He explained that the Customs officers were angered by the driver’s
refusal to give them N5,000, adding that he did not know why they
behaved the way they did.
“It was one of their men that they mistakenly shot dead and not
any of our passengers. The officer, who fired the gun, wanted to shoot
one of the passengers; as he cocked the gun, he opened fire on one of
his men in mufti. We give God the glory,” Osahon added.
The Public Relations Officer, NCS, Mr Joseph Attah, described the
incident as quite unfortunate, adding that the victim was not one of the
passengers, but a friend to the Customs men.
He said that the victim was from the neighbourhood and used to
supply water to the Customs base on the road, adding that he happened to
come around when there was an altercation between the passengers of the
bus and the operatives.
According to him, the incident happened when the Customs operatives
flagged down a passenger bus, adding that instead of the driver and the
passengers to allow the operatives to conduct a routine check on the
vehicle, they were cursing and calling them thieves.
He said in a statement that it was in the process of filming the
Customs personnel at work by the passengers and also struggling to
disarm an officer that a rifle carried by one of the operatives
accidentally discharged and the bullet hit the man.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a disturbing video going viral with conflicting narratives.
“While it is painful and totally unnecessary to lose a life in
anti-smuggling operations, today at the Sagamu interchange along Ijebu
Ode, an attempt to obstruct the lawful performance of duty by passengers
of a commercial bus suspected to be carrying bales of used clothing led
to the death of a young man, Godwin, and serious injuries to a Customs
officer, Destiny Onebamho.
“Contrary to some narratives, the young man was not a passenger
of the bus but a good citizen, who always come to fetch water for the
Customs patrol men anytime they return to the base.
“Preliminary findings indicate that it was during the
skirmishes and struggle to disarm the officer that the riffle discharged
and the bullet hit the friend of the Customs, who lost his life.”
He said the service had already contacted the bereaved family,
adding that the Customs personnel had been recalled to the office for
further investigation.
The statement added, “It should be noted that while attention
shifted to the dead and the wounded, the passengers, who filmed with
inciting commentaries boarded their vehicle and left, leaving the wrong
impression that it was one of them that was killed.
“While the wounded officer is in intensive care at the
hospital, the patrol team has been recalled to the office for further
investigation.”
When the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola
Oyeyemi, was contacted, he said operatives of the command were able to
rescue the Customs officer from being lynched by the angry mob, adding
that the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation
and Intelligence Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta.
He said, “After the incident, a distress call was sent to the
Divisional Police Officer of the Sagamu Police Station, who moved in
with his men. When they got to the scene of the incident, they met the
body of the deceased and the angry mob attacking a Customs officer. The
police were able to rescue him and he has been taken to the hospital.
“The Customs vehicle has been taken to the police station and
the case will be transferred to the SCIID on the order of the
Commissioner of Police for investigation.”
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