Segun Atanda/
A customs officer allegedly shot dead a man who just returned from Europe and was on his way to the Eastern part of the country in Lagos early this morning.
NewsmakersNG learnt that a team of Customs officers had flagged down a commuter bus in which the victim and some fellow returnees were travelling at the Sagamu Interchange on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and demanded N5000 bribe from a female passenger because of some luxury goods found among her baggage.
See a video of the incident below:
The passengers, however, resisted the attempt to extort her, insisting that none of the goods was contraband because they all arrived through the airport where their luggage had already passed through Customs checks.
Their insistence had reportedly annoyed one of the Customs personnel who cocked his rifle and threatened to shoot the most vocal among them.
He, however, mistakenly shot one of them in the process, with the bullet penetrating through one of the victim’s eyes.
The victim reportedly died on the spot, while the officers attempted to flee in their operational vehicle but were stopped by the remaining passengers and other eyewitnesses.
A video of the incident showed a mob attempting to lynch the Customs officer who fired the shot but did not show what eventually happened to him.
Authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service have reacted to the incident in a statement this evening.
The statement claims the victim, identified simply as Godwin, was not a passenger in the bus but a man engaged by the Customs officers to run errands for them at the duty post.
The statement also claims the shooting was not a deliberate act by the Customs officer, ASC1 Destiny Onebamho, but a case of accidental discharge.
Read the full statement below:
The attention of Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a disturbing video going viral with conflicting narratives.
While it is painful and totally unnecessary to loose life in anti-smuggling operations, today at Shagamu interchange along Ijebu Ode, attempt to obstruct lawful performance of duty by passengers of a commercial bus (a white Toyota Hiace) suspected to be carrying bales of used clothing led to the death of a young man (Godwin) and serious injury of a Customs Officer, ASC1, Destiny Onebamho.
Contrary to some narratives, the young man was not a passenger of the bus but a good citizen who always come to fetch water for Customs Patrol men anytime they return to the base.
Preliminary finding indicate that it was during the skirmishes and struggle to disarm the Officer that the riffle discharged and hit the friend of the Customs (Godwin) who lost his life. The Service is already in touch with the bereaved family.
Sadly, it should be noted that while attention shifted to the dead and the wounded, the passengers who filmed with inciting commentaries boarded their vehicle and left, leaving the wrong impression that it was one of them that was killed.
While the wounded Officer is under intensive care at the hospital, the patrol team has been recalled to the office for further investigation.
DC Joseph Attah
Public Relations Officer
For: Comptroller-General of Customs