An officer of the Katsina Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has been murdered by bandits at one of its checkpoints in Dan Arau village, along Katsina/Jibiya highway.

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The bandits killed the officer, Garba Nasiru, who was an Assistant Superintendent of Customs, during a surprise attack on Friday afternoon and also went away with his AK-47 rifle.

It was learnt that security operatives had to engage the bandits in a shootout before his corpse could be retrieved from the bandits, who later escaped into the forest.

Attempts to obtain comments from the Customs Divisional Headquarters, Katsina, were unsuccessful, although insiders disclosed that the late officer had since been buried according to Islamic rites.

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The spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident, but did not give details.

He said, “Yes, the incident was true. Bandits killed a Customs officer at the Dan Arau village checkpoint, but go to the Customs office for details.”

In a similar incident, bandits, also on Friday evening, killed nine villagers at Tsauwa village in the Batsari Local Government Area of the state.

In all, the bandits, who came on motorcycles, killed nine villagers in the ambush and retreated to the forest, following the arrival of the police.

The police spokesman also confirmed the incident.