4 dead, officer burnt as Customs clashes with Sokoto community

Four persons have been reported dead in a car crash at Asara village while trying to evade stop and search of customs at a checkpoint in Sokoto state.

The incident has however caused an uproar in the community. A mob in the village set ablaze two vehicles belonging to officials of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

Narrating what transpired, an eyewitness said; “One of the drivers was carrying goods like rice and vegetables from the Illela border and eventually ran into a customs checkpoint located at Asara village.  

“They (customs) obstructed the driver in a bid to stop the vehicle for a search and that caused the driver to lose control. The car ran into an oncoming vehicle and had a head-on collision while the one coming from the back crashed in between the two”.

Confirming the incident, Customs spokesman in the state, Tahir Balarabe described the incident as unfortunate.

He added that two vehicles belonging to the Customs service and an officer in charge of the unit were burnt by the angry mob.

Balarabe maintained that the officials were only carrying out their legitimate duties by preventing the entrance of contraband into the country as stipulated by the Customs and Excise law.

“It is unfortunate that the mob carried out an attack against the officials who were only trying to prevent contraband into the country by some suspected smugglers.”