At least four persons were feared killed on Wednesday morning when men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) shot at their vehicle containing 25bags of rice at Kobape, along the Abeokuta/Sagamu road.
The situation paralyzed activities along the busy road for several hours as hundreds of protesters stormed the State Command of the NCS off Quarry Road, Ibara, Abeokuta.
As at 3.30pm, men of the Operation Messa, a combined team of the Army, Police, Navy and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) mounted security check to prevent entrance into the command’s premises.
It was gathered that the driver of the vehicle, simply identified as Onila, who was taking the rice to Sagamu, was hit by bullets and died immediately on the spot. The sporadic shots allegedly cut up with three other commuters who have been placed on danger list at the state hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta.
The Customs officers were reportedly acting under the instructions of a senior officer called Oga Ogunbiyi at the Kobape junction when the incident occurred.
An argument was said to have ensued between the officers and a motorist, when one of the officers started firing sporadically. A bullet reportedly hit the tyre of a speeding car, causing it to summersault severally.
One of the occupants of the car, who had already been hit in the leg, was hit by another bullet as he tried to come out of the upturned car. He reportedly died on the spot.
On February 22, Customs officials from the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) Ikeja, Lagos broke into several shops in the Sango Otta market in Ogun State at around 12am, carting away several hundreds bags of rice. The situation led to a series of protests by the traders.
The invasion of the market is currently a subject of investigation by the Senate.
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