Nigerian Customs officers injured in attack by smugglers

Three officers of the Nigerian Customs Service in Ogun State were on Thursday taken to a hospital with injuries after an attack by suspected smugglers.

The Area Commander of the service in the state, Sanni Madugu, made this known to journalists at the Idiroko headquarters of the command. He said the wounded officers were still on admittance in the hospital at the time of this report.

Mr. Madugu said the smugglers were attempting to evade arrest after being caught with smuggled goods along the Idiroko border town.

He, however, declared that in spite of the resistance of the smugglers, a number of the goods were seized.

“They were using stones to attack us and we didn’t want to engage them with gun, to avoid casualty of innocent people. They broke the windscreen, damaged our vehicles and wounded our officers,” Mr. Magudu narrated

He said the goods seized from the smugglers include seven vehicles, among which was a brand new Toyota Hilux pick up van he said was hidden in a bush to avoid seizure.

The customs boss added that 1,500 bags of rice were also seized, stating that about nine vehicles were used to smuggle the items.