Customs Service operatives shoot pregnant woman in Ogun State

A pregnant woman identified as Bukola Olugunna, at Iyana Iyesi, in  Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State was reportedly shot by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service.

Olugunna, who is carrying an eight-month pregnancy, was allegedly shot by the NCS Operatives attached to the Federal Operation Unit, Ikeja, around 7.45am while on her way to the office.

She is a member of staff of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.

This incident was happening less than 24 hours after Customs operatives allegedly killed one person and injured three others on Wednesday at Abule Egba, in Lagos while in pursuit of the vehicle believed to be conveying smuggled bags of rice.

An eyewitness said the woman was hit by stray bullets on her back and the left side of her body.

He explained that the woman was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, he, however, said he could not ascertain whether the woman survived the gunshot wounds or not.

The source, further, hinted that the customs officials who shot the pregnant woman were later arrested by policemen attached to Onipanu Divisional headquarters, Ota, and were later taken to Sango police station.

When contacted, the spokesman of Customs FOU, Ikeja, Jerry Attah, said he was yet to confirm the incident.

The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Customs Area Command, Abdullahi Maiwada, confirmed the incident but said the woman was only ‘brushed by stray bullets’ and not hit.

He said Customs operatives were on the trail of a suspected smuggled vehicle and not rice as claimed, hen they were mobbed by some ‘unpatriotic members of the public.’

He said, “The officers were on a trail of a suspected smuggled vehicle and in the process, they were mobbed by some unpatriotic members of the public.

“The officers were left with no option than to shoot repeatedly into the air, and in the process, the said woman was brushed by a stray bullet.

“The Customs officers were in police station for safety to avoid mob attack not the insinuation that they were arrested by the police.

“We spoke with the relative of injured woman’s husband and the doctor, they both confirmed that the woman is responding to treatment.”

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, also confirmed the incident.

According to him, a mob at the scene of the incident had wanted to attack the customs officials, but for the timely intervention of the policemen, who had rescued the FOU operatives to the police station.

Oyeyemi, an ASP, stated that normalcy had since returned to the area, while the victim of the gunshots was responding to treatment.

Speaking with our correspondent on phone, the brother-in-law of the victim, Tosin Ologunna, said she had been stabilized at the hospital, adding the pregnancy was not also affected.

He, however, expressed his disappointment at the way the incident was treated by the police, saying the matter must be taken to the higher authority to ensure justice is done.

“I thank God that the woman who was shot this morning is now okay and stable. The pregnancy too, the doctors said it was okay. The victim is my younger brother’s wife and I am happy she survived the gunshot. But I must tell you that we feel cheated and we want justice to be done in this case. Imagine the Police Area Commander of Sango just instructed that the hospital bill be paid and nothing more. To me, this is cheating and unfair,” he said.

Source : ( Punch Newspaper )