Corpse of abducted customs officer found in Ogun

 

By Niyi Ogungbola

The dead body of a customs officer who was declared missing on Tuesday after an attack by suspected smugglers in Ogun State has been found.

The discovery brings to two the number of officers killed in an ambush.

It would be recalled that, First Awarenesses reported on  Wednesday that,a team of Nigeria Customs officers attached to the Federal Operations Unit (FOU),Lagos,on patrol were attacked by Smugglers at Fagbohun village via Idogo/Ipaja,Yewa South Local government.

During the attack,two officers were abducted and dead body of one of the two was found in a river near Fagbohun village while his second was declared missing.

Meanwhile,the corpse of the missing officer has been found on Friday.

Addressing news men on the latest attack, the Customs Controller, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, Hussein Kehinde Ejibunu, said Two of the officers were declared missing as at Tuesday. 

According to him,search for them continued till Wednesday morning when the body of one of the officers was found in a river near Ajegun-Iyaloosa village on Wednesday. His rifle was also found near the river.

“The search for the second missing officer continued till yesterday, Friday, when the dead body of the second abducted officer was found. The strap of his rifle was still hanging on him as at the time his body was found but his rifle was missing"he stressed.

Also recalling the earlier incident on October 16 at Shagamu Interchange, he said that, suspected smugglers carried out unprovoked attacked on some customs officers attached to a patrol team in the area.

On that day,he said officers accosted about 24 vehicles carrying suspected smuggled rice with 12 of the vehicles evacuated to FOU Headquarters in Lagos when the smugglers attacked the officers.

“Two officers sustained matchet wounds and luckily enough, they were treated and responded to treatment. As if that was not enough on Tuesday, October 26, in the same Ogun State suspected smugglers ambushed another patrol team in Yewa South Local government area of Ogun State and abducted two officers.

Highly unhappy Controller said,“Those in authority should know that we are all their children and no life is more sacred than another. If it were to be the other way round the news would have been everywhere.

“This will be the last time I will come on air to discuss issues of attack and killing of Customs officer. I will be forced to evoke our Rules of Engagement. Officers will now defend themselves when an unprovoked attack is unleashed on them,” Controller Ejibunu stated.