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Angry youth protest, set up bonfires as Customs attempt to arrest suspect in Ilorin

We withdrew to avoid causalities -Customs

Youth of Offa Garage area of the Ilorin Metropolis are presently protesting what they described as the gestapo way men of the Nigerian Customs pursued a trailer allegedly carrying contraband to the area.

When the News Hub Mag! got to the area about 8pm, patrol vehicles of men of the Nigeria police blocked the road leading to Asadam area while the angry youth were burning tires few metres away on the Asadam route.

The other Lane which had the effected trailer park akwardly across the road had tens of youth converged venting their pleasure.

One Mohammed who said he was an eyewitness recounted the situation to News Hub Mag!

In his words, “I don’t know where they were pursuing the trailer from but when the trailer was almost at the roundabout they started firing. They shot at the tires and the trailer driver lost control. They didn’t expect residents to interfer but this arrogance need to stop, people are suffering we don’t want security agents killing us on top of it again.

“We all came out and they went to reinforce with three full vans but we stood our ground. They later checked the trailer and saw that it was chicken feed inside so they pleaded that they would buy the tires but till now they are yet to return with the tires.”

Another youth who refused to disclose his name but swore he was an eye witness collaborated Mohammed and queried why Customs would be firing indiscriminately within an urban setting.

“This is how they will tell us it is stray bullet but there won’t be a stray bullet if they don’t fire indiscriminately within a highly populated area like this. If they had done their jobs well would there be contrabands within the cities?” he queried.

In phone chat with News Hub Mag! the spokesman for the agency, Mr. Zakaria Chado, confirmed the incidence. He however denied that officers fired at the tires of the trailer.

“Yes, acting on credible intelligence our men pursued the trailer but to evade arrest the driver refused to stop and when he got to that area he crossed the road and deflated his own tires to ensure that our men couldn’t take him to the office. He them went ahead to mobilize thugs to attack our men and to avoid causalities our men withdrew from the scene to allow men of the Nigeria police Force maintain law and order,” he said.

Asked why men of the agency had to raid within the city, the spokesman of the agency disclosed that the porous border situation of the country made it difficult for they to man all the entry to the country.

“Moreover, we are empowered by law to search anywhere without a warrant if we suspect that there’s a contraband there. We can come into your house without warrant if we suspect you have a contraband,” he disclosed.

Chado who said officers only fired to ward off the alleged thugs who were trying to mob them insisted that the driver had contraband in the trailer. He told our reporter that the driver wouldn’t have tried to escape if he was not carrying contraband and insisted that there was still contraband in the trailer.

On his part, the spokesman of the Police, DSP Ajayi Okansanmi, who told our reporter that he is yet to hear from the Customs recounted what News Hub Mag! had already been told.

“We heard that the Customs pursued a trailer suspected to be carrying contrabands, shots were fired and the trailer veered off the road. I don’t have the side of the Customs but why will an innocent driver run from law enforcement agents, that’s the riddle,” he asked.

Efforts by News Hub Mag! to get the driver proved abortive as he was said to have left the vicinity of the building crisis. Also, efforts to check the trailer was rebuffed by men of the Police at the scene.

Stay tuned for more updates as it unfolds.

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