One Dead, 5 Officers Missing As Customs Officers And Smugglers Clash See Graphic Photo

6 years ago

One Dead, 5 Officers Missing As Customs Officers And Smugglers Clash See Graphic Photo

The last 24 hours have witnessed bloody encounters as at least six people were either shot dead or stabbed to death in different parts of the country.

A female student of Federal University of Technology, Minna, was stabbed to death, one person was shot dead in Ogun State during a shootout between Customs officials and smugglers, gunmen shot dead an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Delta State, while three people were killed over land dispute in Ebonyi State.

In Delta State, gunmen killed an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Usman Ndah. Ndah, it was learnt, was shot on Sunday but died yesterday.

Prior to his murder, the ACP was the Area Commander in charge of Ughelli Area Command.

The circumstances, which led to his death killing, were still sketchy as at the time of filling this report.

When contacted on the phone, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed that Ndah was killed by gunmen.

Aniamaka said the command had not ascertained whether his assailants were kidnappers or assassins.

He said: “Yes, an Assistant Commissioner of Police was killed in Ughelli.

I don’t know where those who attached the killing to kidnappers got that from. All we know is that he was shot dead.”

In what seems to be a recurring decimal, a suspected smuggler was shot dead yesterday during a gun fight with men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Sango-Ota axis of Ogun State.

A few weeks ago, two men were killed in Abeokuta, the state capital, when Customs officials reportedly opened fire on them.

In yesterday’s incident, which occurred about 9a.m., a Customs official was injured while five other officers were said to be missing.

When contacted, the NCS Public Relations Officer, FOU, Zone A, Jerry Attah, confirmed the incident.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the affected officers, who said he escaped death narrowly, explained that five of his colleagues were missing in action.

A patrol van belonging to the NCS was set ablaze during the clash while four other vehicles, including an operational vehicle of the agency, were also vandalised.

It was learnt that the clash erupted when hoodlums believed to be smugglers ambushed the convoy of NCS operatives from the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Lagos.

The Customs men had seized 45 bags of 50-kilogramme rice and 258 cartons of frozen turkey allegedly smuggled through the Republic of Benin.

Witnesses said there was a gun fight between the Customs men and the smugglers, which led to the death of one of the suspects.

Irked by the killing, the smugglers mobilised and headed to the Customs checkpoint at Atan area on Sango-Idiroko Road, where they beat a Customs official to coma and set his Toyota Camry car ablaze.

When contacted, the Customs Public Relations Officer, Ogun Area Command, Abdulahi Maiwada, confirmed the incident.

Maiwada said the suspected smugglers, armed with dangerous weapons, ambushed the FOU operatives at the Toll Gate area on their way to the Customs warehouse in Lagos.

According to him, the smugglers conveyed the contraband in a Mazda car marked KTU 504 AM and an unregistered Passat car.

In Minna, Niger State, a female postgraduate student in the school of Science Education, Federal University of Technology, Bolatito Ajuola, was stabbed to death by a man suspected to be her fiancé. According to reports, the incident occurred about 8a.m. on Monday at the off campus residence of the deceased.

The man, Best Origbose, according to witnesses, was an employee of a company owned by Bolatito’s father in Ondo State where the duo developed interest in each other.