A 14 year-old-boy named Mushin Ibrahim was killed on Saturday when a bus being chased by officials of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone B of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) rammed into bystanders in Jibia, Katsina State.
The incident occurred at about 11am around Tudun Wada Primary School, Tashar Huraira, Jibia.
The Customs officers, according to eyewitnesses, ran away from the scene after the incident without rendering any form of assistance to the victim.
The driver of the J5 bus, which ran into the bystanders claimed that he did not have contraband items in his vehicle. He said he only transporting soybeans from Batsari to Jibia, both within Katsina State.
The teenager’s father confirmed that he was on the farm when news of the incident got to him
“When I reached the scene, he was already dead. His body was severely damaged by the vehicle,” he said.
Musa said his son’s corpse was taken to a police station in Jibia from where it was taken to a hospital in the area.
“I want the government to do justice to us, the Customs officials caused this because they were chasing a vehicle in a populated place like Jibia,” the bereaved father said.
Many of the residents in the border town lamented the unruly and crude behaviour of customs officials in the area.
“The situation in Jibia is becoming confusing because we don’t know what the customs officials are supposed to stop. Even if you bring in goods from Katsina or Kano, they stop and ask you for a bribe. If you refuse to give them they will seize the goods and say it is contrabands,” the Chairman of the Jibia Peoples Forum, Gide Dahiru, said.
In August 2021, a hot pursuit by customs officials led to the death of six people while several others were injured in the same Jibia. The same month, SHIPS & PORTS reported that no fewer than 30 indigenes of various communities in Lagos, Oyo and Ogun States, all in southwest Nigeria, lost their lives when their communities were raided at various times by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) between May 2016 and July 2021.
In February 2022, the House of Representatives demanded the prosecution of officials of the Nigeria Customs Service involved in the extrajudicial killing of civilians in border communities.
The lawmakers urged the Federal Government to ensure that the officers who were complicit and indicted in the incidents are prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
The Nigeria Customs Service has, however, failed to act on the recklessness of its officials.
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