It was a reign of terror and free for all late Friday night when operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) invaded and engaged residents of Ayetoro, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State in a violent clash.
Newsmen gathered that the clash led to the burning of three customs vehicles and shooting of a youth, popularly known in the community as Soliu, three times.
An eyewitness, Razak Adeyemi explained that trouble started after a heated argument ensued between a Customs officer and a resident suspected to be a smuggler after which the matter was resolved and both parties went their separate ways.
He however added that about an hour later, four fully loaded Customs Hilux vehicles stormed the community, with the officers shooting continuously in the air.
The act was said to have angered the youths in the community, hence a violent face-off between the officers and youths in the community.
Adeyemi stated, “It all started like a normal argument between a man and a customs officer at Oke Rori in Ayetoro. They had a few minutes of arguments, after which military men and residents wadded into the issue and it was resolved.
About an hour later, four Customs Hilux, with fully armed Customs officers entered our community and they started shooting anyhow in the air. After several attempts to stop them yielded no positive result, the youths in the area then faced them and they started shooting at the people.”
Another resident of Ayetoro, Nojeeem, claimed that the officers were shooting like they had been ordered to wipe out the community.
“If you see the way they were shooting, it was like a war zone, like they have been told to kill us all. If not because many of our youths are fortified, many would have been dead by now. If you go round the community, you will see people whose clothes were torn by the customs bullets, but the bullets didn’t penetrate their bodies; only for one guy called Soliu who was shot three times.”
When asked of the victim’s whereabouts, Nojeem said he has been taken away by his family members to an unknown traditional care centre.
When contacted, the spokesperson of Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun Area 1 Command, Hammed Oloyede, confirmed the incident, noting that the Command had commenced investigation into the reasons for the clash.
“The situation is currently under investigation. So, I will get back to you,” Oloyede responded on the phone.
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