Posted by Suspected bandits and smugglers staged savage attacks on Customs officers in Kebbi and Katsina States this week, resulting in the deaths of two policemen and injuries to another.
The Comptroller FOU ‘B’ Musa Ibrahim Jalo voiced serious concern and stated that a complete investigation had been ordered to identify and apprehend the criminals behind the attacks on customs personnel in the area.
Jalo claims that the unit’s operatives will continue to do their jobs while being violently attacked, regardless of who gets their ox gored.
The Customs Area Controllers in those regions have issued an appeal to local elders, community leaders, and parents to warn their children against engaging in such evil.
They assured the public that any information provided on alleged smugglers and criminals would be kept in the strictest confidence as part of a joint effort to preserve the nation’s safety and security.
During a routine stop-and-search operation along Bunza, Dakingari, Koko Road on August 24, 2023, suspected bandits in an ash-colored Toyota Corolla ambushed the customs officers from the Kebbi Area Command, shooting sporadically, according to a statement released by the Acting Public Relations Officer, Kebbi Area Command, ASC II, Mubarak Mustapha.
Alhaji Kabiru Shehu, a Customs Inspector, and Abdullahi Muhammad, a Customs Assistant II, both perished in the attack.
On the same day, SC Isah Sulaiman, the Customs Public Relations Officer for Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘B’ (FOU ‘B’) Kaduna, said that agents under the zone were attacked by suspected smugglers while on patrol in the Dankama Area.
Inspector of Customs Haruna A. was severely hurt in the attack and is presently hospitalized for treatment.