A middle aged man has been allegedly killed by an unidentified man alleged to be an official of the Nigeria Customs Service.
In a video which was obtained by Transport Day, a lady was seen and heard wailing and saying the deceased was killed because of N5000 bribe.
She was also heard saying she and the deceased only came to Nigeria recently from abroad.
It was not clear if the vehicle they were traveling in was going to Benin or coming from Benin.
Efforts made to get reaction from the Customs spokesman proved abortive as at the time of filing this report. A phone call put through to the Nigeria Customs Service Spokesman, Mr. Joseph Attah as at 5:28pm was not answered.
However, in its reaction later, the Nigerian Customs Service described the incident as unfortunate. Speaking through the Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Attah, the service said in a statement that the victim was not one of the passengers, but a friend to the Customs men.
He said that the victim was from the neighbourhood and used to supply water to the Customs base on the road, adding that he happened to come around when there was an altercation between the passengers of the bus and the operatives.
According to him, the incident happened when the Customs operatives flagged down a passenger bus, adding that instead of the driver and the passengers to allow the operatives to conduct a routine check on the vehicle, they were cursing and calling them thieves.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a disturbing video going viral with conflicting narratives.
“While it is painful and totally unnecessary to lose a life in anti-smuggling operations, today at the Sagamu interchange along Ijebu Ode, an attempt to obstruct the lawful performance of duty by passengers of a commercial bus suspected to be carrying bales of used clothing led to the death of a young man, Godwin, and serious injuries to a Customs officer, Destiny Onebamho.
“Contrary to some narratives, the young man was not a passenger of the bus but a good citizen, who always come to fetch water for the Customs patrol men anytime they return to the base.
“Preliminary findings indicate that it was during the skirmishes and struggle to disarm the officer that the riffle discharged and the bullet hit the friend of the Customs, who lost his life.”
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