The Delta Police Command has confirmed the killing of a policeman along the East-West Road in the Patani area of the state by a Nigeria Customs officer.
The spokesperson of the Delta Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed to THE WHISTLER on Saturday that the customs officer is currently in custody.
Edafe explained, “I do not have details yet, but what I do know is that the customs were at their checkpoint while the policeman was driving a vehicle.
“I do not know what led to the shooting for now, but what is confirmed is that they shot at the vehicle.
“The policeman driving the vehicle died. The vehicle fell into a ditch. The customs officer is in custody.”
The confirmation followed an earlier report by THE WHISTLER on the incident that occurred on Friday night.
A counterinsurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, who first reported the incident via X platform on Saturday morning, noted that a Toyota RAV4 was seen veering off the road into a ditch near a Customs checkpoint.
Quoting sources, Makama noted that a police officer who witnessed the incident rushed to the scene and discovered that the driver of the vehicle, believed to be a police officer based on his attire, had been fatally shot.
While THE WHISTLER gathered that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was “handling the situation”, there is no official reaction from the Service.
The spokesperson of the Customs Federal Operating Unit (FOU) Zone C, simply identified as ASC Rose, requested more time to gather credible information concerning the incident.
“Please, just give me a little time, let me get to the scene. I will get back to you, please,” her text to our correspondent read.
This is not the first time customs officers will be involved in similar shootings.
On April 17, 2024, Customs Assistant II Auwal Haruna was lynched by passengers after he shot at a vehicle, killing a passenger.
The incident, which occurred at a checkpoint in the Gamji Makaho area of Katsina State, followed Haruna’s attempt to intercept a convoy of vehicles.
The vehicles numbering over 50, according to the Service, were suspected to be illegally transporting goods out of the country.
Haruna was said to have flagged down a truck conveying passengers to Dankama town, but the truck driver allegedly refused to comply.
Angered by the driver’s actions, Haruna allegedly pulled the trigger at the truck, but the bullet hit a passenger, identified as Bashir Na-Buzuwa.
Also, in February 2024, a teenager was reportedly killed after a J5 Peugeot vehicle driver rammed into bystanders in the Jibia Local Government Area of the state.
The J5 driver was conveying soya beans, and upon sighting NCS officials, reportedly got frightened. He pumped the brake and hit a car near a filling station. This led to the death of the teenager.
In August 2021, no fewer than 10 people were confirmed dead and many injured after operatives of the Service rammed into a gathering while pursuing a suspected rice smuggler in the same Jibia town.
