By Chiazo Ogbolu
Hoodlums, masquerading as #EndSARS protesters, attacked the Kwara Command warehouse of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in Ilorin on Saturday with the intention to loot.
In a resistance put up by Customs officers on duty, 24 of the motorcycles and a tricycle that conveyed the looters to the facility were seized.
The hoodlums, however, succeeded in setting part of the place on fire.
Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Ahmed Bello posted on the agency’s communication platform that the hoodlums attacked with guns, machetes, axes, charms and other dangerous weapons.
The Customs men had to call for reinforcement from the Nigerian Army, he said.
“All efforts to address the hoodlums to douse the tensed atmosphere at the Command’s gate proved abortive and officers of the Command were left with no option than to respond appropriately to the spontaneous attack unleashed by the hoodlums.
“Unfortunately, forty minutes of exchange of gunfire led to the serious injury of two of our officers who are now responding to treatment,’’ he stated.
Bello called on parents, guardians, community and religious leaders and opinion moulders to caution their wards on the dangers of toeing the path of illegality and anarchy.
“The Command will do everything humanly possible within the ambit of the law to protect government properties and ensure that peace prevail against all odds.
“It is important to reiterate that officers of the NCS are only implementers of Federal Government’s policies in the overall interest of national growth and development.
“The hostility by hoodlums and their accomplices will never be a distraction in discharging our statutory responsibilities,’’ he stressed.
