The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has disclosed that, its officers involved in the incident that occurred along Ijebu Ode road on Sunday, in which a man was shot dead are being interrogated.
The Public Relations Officer of Customs; Mr Joseph Attah, made this known in an interview in Abuja.
A video which went viral on Social Media on Sunday showed how a man who was alleged to be a passenger of a commercial bus was allegedly shot dead by a customs officer.
Giving an update on the incident, Attah explained that the Customs Assistant Comptroller General in charge of Zone ‘A’; Ekekezie Kessy had on Monday visited the Federal Operations Unit in the zone at Ikeja, Lagos to interrogate the officers involved.
He said that the investigation was to find out the immediate and remote causes of the unfortunate incident that led to the death of an innocent citizen.
According to him, the interrogation will also reveal if a better handling of weapon would have averted the incident.
“The officers involved are being interrogated; we look at it holistically, including weapon handling skills.
“If the officers are found guilty, they will be punished appropriately, we will allow the investigation to take place first.
“We still stand our ground that it is not a passenger of the bus that was deliberately shot dead but the victim was hit by the accidental discharge.
“An audio is now trending from one of the passengers of the bus that the person that died is not one of them.
“We insist that the person that died was not a passenger but a Good Samaritan who used to assist our officers, we described him as a friend of Customs,’’ he explained.
Meanwhile, the Customs spokesperson said on Monday that it was painful and totally unnecessary for a life to be lost in the anti-smuggling campaign.
Mr Attah, who said this in Lagos , when he called-in on our sister platform; Shipping Position Live on Star FM, however blamed the incidence on the unruly behaviour of passengers in the commercial bus.
"Well we are talking about life here, so my first statement will be that our hearts and prayers go to the family of the bereaved, which we are already in touch with. It is painful and totally unnecessary for there to be a loss of life in the anti-smuggling campaign", he said.
Attah also accused the passengers of obstructing the officers from lawful performance of their duties as custom officers.
“What happened was as a result of the unruly action of some passengers in a bus suspected to be carrying bales of clothing. This bus was flagged-down with a view to conducting a routine check. The passengers came out in a very unruly manner, full of aggression and obstructing lawful performance of duty", he added.
Speaking on whether or not the Customs officers have the right to mount road blocks, he said that custom has the right according to Customs Excise Management Act(CEMA) to stand anywhere and stop any vehicle suspected to be carrying smuggled goods.
"If you are asking if our mandate includes checking anything, anywhere in any part of the country, the answer is yes"
"The Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) empowers customs operative to operate freely to stop any vehicle that is suspected to be carrying smuggled item.
And this as I said earlier was an avoidable incident if the passengers had simply complied and allow them to just have a look. And if there is nothing incriminating they will just allow them go"
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