Aggrieved stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry have called on the Federal Government to set up a panel of inquiry into the various extra-judicial killings of citizens in the country by men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The stakeholders while reacting to the recent killing of three at the Ibarapa Local Government area in Oyo state, lamented that men of NCS have become reckless in the way they handle arms ammunition given to them.
In their lamentation they called for death penalty for any customs officer found guilty of killing a member of a community.
Investigations carried out by Shipping Position Daily confirmed that no fewer than 25 people have lost their lives since the beginning of this year to face-off between men of the Nigeria Customs Service, smugglers and residents of border communities.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that at the beginning of this year, precisely on January 8, men of NCS reportedly killed three commercial drivers at a checkpoint in Baruten, Kwara State during an attack at one of its checkpoints.
Also in February 2021, one person suspected to be a smuggler was killed while three others were injured in a clash between Customs officers and smugglers in Ogun state.
While protesting the death of their colleagues at the Governor’s Office Oke Mosan in Abeokuta, the suspected smugglers accused men of the Customs Service of conspiring with the Lagos officers to swindle them of their goods, having collected bribes for ‘easy passage’ of those goods in Ogun state.
Also in March 2021, residents of Agosasa community in Ipokia Local government area of Ogun state were thrown into mourning as officers attached to the NCS Ogun Command I, allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old girl, Sekinat Agbelade.
Our correspondent gathered that the victim who was on an errand was hit by a stray bullet from Customs officers who were chasing a smuggled vehicle. The teenager allegedly died from the injury sustained from the bullet at a private hospital.
Apart from the deceased, two other persons; namely Oluwole Oladosu and Saliu Babalola, were also reportedly injured by stray bullets.
In May, five indigenes of Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State were allegedly also killed by men of NCS while also pursuing suspected smugglers.
Although the House of Representatives had mandated its committee on Customs and Excise to investigate the alleged shooting and killing of the indigenes of Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State the investigation had yielded little or no result.
Also last week, it was learnt that the officers of the NCS stormed the Igangan town in Ibarapa Local Government around 8.pm while also pursuing smugglers leading to the reported death of three members of the community.
Reacting to the serial killings, the Vice President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Kayode Farinto called for a panel of enquiry to investigate the action and punish officers of the service who are guilty of extra judicial killings.
While condemning the killings, Farinto said, “you cannot just be killing innocent citizens all in the name of pursuing smugglers that’s not justifiable, so if this government will do the needful by setting up panel of enquiry, it will be a welcome idea and it will convince Nigerians that truly they have a government”.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC); Chief Osita Chukwu, also lamented that the extra judicial killings by men of NCS has gone beyond control, even as he also urged the Federal Government to bring the officers who are guilty of killing innocent citizens to book.
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He emphasized that killing innocent citizens will not stop smugglers, he therefore urged the officers of NCS to deal carefully with the ammunition placed in their hands.
He said: In a civilised country, a panel of enquiry would have been set up, you can’t say somebody is a smuggler without evidence; there is no law that permits you to kill except somebody is coming to you with arm, but anything outside that is wrong. So its uncalled for, when an officer takes an innocent life in the name of smuggling, no law says you should kill a smuggler, what the law states is that you should get the smugglers apprehended, the law didn’t say kill, except in the process, the smuggler tries to attack the officers.
Reacting to the killings, a member of the House of Representative, Hon. Femi Bamisile, representing Ado Ekiti at the House of Representative, who spoke to our correspondent, noted that the issue of extra- judicial killings by men of Customs is an issue that needs to be investigated thoroughly. He however promised to give full details of the House of Representatives decision on the issue, but as at the time of filing this report, calls and text messages sent to him were not responded to.
However, reacting to the recent operations of officers of the Service, in Ibarapa, the assistant National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Timi Bomodi, in a chat with our correspondent debunked the widely-circulated news that three members of the community lost their lives
He asked members of the affected community to provide details of those killed, this is even as he maintained that no amount of pressure will make the NCS to abdicate its responsibilities.
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