No fewer than four people were on Tuesday, allegedly killed by some officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Oyo/Osun states command in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
The incident according to eye witnesses occurred at the NCS barracks in Ijokodo area of Ibadan, Tuesday evening.
DAILY POST gathered that the four people were allegedly killed as a result of gunshots they sustained when the Customs officers pulled the trigger.
It was gathered that the Customs officers had already seized a trailer carrying some prohibited items into the country and were driving the trailer to their barracks located along the Apete-Ijokodo Road.
The break of the vehicle failed in the process which made the driver to loose control and hit some commuters.
It was gathered that among those hit were some commercial motorcyclists plying the Apete-Ijokodo-Sango Road.
A woman, who asked not to be named, said that the commercial motorcyclists later went to the barracks to express their grievances. This, according to her, made the officers to allegedly pull the trigger.
This led to the death of four of them.
A resident of Apete, who identified herself as Lolade, said that the incident led to heavy traffic along the Ijokodo-Apete Road.
Another resident who gave another account of the incident, said that the four people died after they were hit by the trailer when the break failed while the officers were taking it to the barracks.
DAILY POST correspondent who visited the area gathered that taxi owners plying the area used the opportunity to make brick business.
Public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, when contacted, maintained that he had not been briefed about the incident.
He said, “I don’t have the information now. I am not aware. You know when the police officers are there, they have to maintain normalcy. They have to unravel what happened before they send report to us. We will get the report from the DPO. When things happen like that, the police officers have to know what happened, who and who is involved, when it happened, what caused it before they send the report to us. We will get the report late this night or tomorrow morning”.
But, Public Relations Officer of the Oyo/ Osun command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Abdullahi Lagos, who confirmed the incident, declined to state the number of casualties.
Lagos, who spoke with DAILY POST Tuesday night, added that he was still at the University College Hospital where the victims of the incident were taken to for treatment.
He told DAILY POST that he was still compiling the report of what transpired.
He, however, promised to send details of the incident when furnished with the “full report” of the incident.
Lagos said, “Yes, please give me some minutes, I will get back to you later. I am still at the UCH. I am with the families, people are still calling me the way you are calling. I am still typing the report. I will send it to you”.
