Suspected smugglers in the wee hours of Friday attacked a Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) team around Oke-Odo, Lagos, fleeing with a service rifle and a vehicle laden with confiscated rice.
The smugglers, said to have outnumbered the customs officials, ambushed the operatives while on their way to their office at Ikeja to drop the seized contraband.
It was gathered that the operatives had conducted a wee hour operation where they intercepted and seized several bags of smuggled rice.
After the operation, one armed operative and a driver were said to have been directed to take the recovered items to NCS Ikeja but were overpowered by the smugglers who allegedly regrouped.
Police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.
“The command is aware and we are joining hands with customs to fish out the criminals and recover the items. I cannot give you any other information. Our priority at the moment is to fish out the culprits and recover all items,” he said.
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