Suspected customs officers invade Ogun community, burn houses

Operatives suspected to be officers of the Nigerian Customs Service on Monday allegedly invaded Fagbohun village in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, burning houses and ransacking homes.

The invasion, as learnt followed an incident where two Customs officers were killed during a clash between the operatives and smugglers last week in the area.

In what appears like a reprisal, the operatives  visited the community to arrest the suspected killers of their colleagues , an action that forced residents to flee their homes for safety.

Residents said some houses and motorcycles were burnt and the palace of the Village Head was ransacked during the invasion.

Confirming the incident, the Baale of Fagbohun village, Simeon Fagbohun, said the villagers were innocent and had nothing to do with the death of the customs officers.

Also reacting, the spokesman for the Customs Federal Operating Unit, Ikeja, Theophilus  Duniya, denied the allegation that the operatives attacked the village.

Duniya said despite that the service lost two of its officers to attack allegedly by the people in the area, operatives did not take the law into their hands.

“The incident that happened last week, some people were arrested in connection with murder as murder suspects.

“In as much as we seek to have justice for the slain officers, we cannot take the laws into our hands by destroying people’s property. So, it was not executed by our operatives.

“Operatives of Customs service never burned anybody’s house, never burned any motorcycle. The only thing I know was done was the arrest of suspects that are in custody,” he said.

Meanwhile, last week, there was a clash between officers attached to the Federal Operating Unit, Ikeja, Lagos, who were in the village for an operation, and some smugglers.

The  smugglers, as gathered, on sighting the patrol team, unleashed terror on them as two officers got missing in the clash that followed.

The lifeless body of one of the missing officers was later found by a river near Ajegun Iyaloosa village without his rifle, while the body of the second officer was later recovered the next day, bringing the number of operatives murdered to two.