There was pandemonium at the Saw Mill area of Ilorin, the Kwara State on Tuesday, July 22, following the death of one person and another injured during a clash between officials of the Nigerian Customs Service and some car dealers.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the death of one person, although eyewitnesses said two persons were feared dead as a result of the clash
One of the witnesses who told PUNCH Metro that trouble started when some customs officials chased a vehicle, said to be conveying suspected smuggled cosmetics products, into the Ilorin metropolis.
The source said: “An unidentified customs official shot the driver of the vehicle and he died, while his assistant sustained injuries.
“The driver is also a car dealer, who has just arrived from a trip from Benin Republic. He was stopped by customs officials on the highway. However, the suspected smuggler did not obey the customs men and sped off. The officials chased him and later shot the two occupants of the vehicle and ran away.”
Punch gathered that as a result of the death of the car dealer, some aggrieved car dealers and youths armed with weapons mobilised, and protested to the customs office.
They also barricaded some roads leading to the operational office of the customs service, behind the Ilorin Praying Ground but they reportedly met strong resistance from customs men and anti-riot policemen that were deployed to restore normalcy in the area.
It was gathered that the policemen fired shots into the air to scare away the protesters and some roads linking the customs office were blocked by the customs officials and armed policemen.
The PPRO who confirmed the clash between the customs officials and the car dealers said: “Only one person died. We have not made any arrest, but normalcy has returned to the area. The police will not tolerate people taking laws into their hands”.
He added that his remains had been deposited at a hospital morgue.
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