Senate Move To Probe Idiroko/Ipokia Killings By Nigeria Customs Service
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Senate on Wednesday directed its Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff to investigate the recent extra-judicial killings of some residents of Idiroko/Ipokia Constituency in Ogun State by men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The directive followed the consideration of a motion under a point of order, sponsored by Senator Tolu Odebiyi (APC, Ogun West), in which he said that “since the closure of the country’s land border by the Federal Government, men of the Nigeria Customs Service have been conducting themselves in a very unruly manner and in commando-like style around the Idiroko and Ipokia state constituency.”
Odebiyi noted that on October 7, 2019, at about 14:00 hours, some Customs men allegedly shot and killed a student of Ojumo Community High School, Ihunbo in Ipokia Local Government Area, while several other students sustained injuries from gunshots.
He further said that in another reported incident, men of the Nigeria Customs Service drove recklessly with an impounded vehicle in a densely populated market which led to the killing of another student when the driver lost control.
He also lamented that an Honourable member representing the area in the State House of Assembly, Sikirat Ajibola, almost lost her life as she was shot at by men of the Nigeria Customs Service while attempting to pacify aggrieved residents following an incident which claimed the life of a student.
In the words of Odeyemi; “While many of the actions and excesses of the men of Nigeria Customs Service, including the recent killings were not only breaches, they are offences against the state; sadly, there is yet any report of any of the men or officers involved being reprimanded or brought to book.”
