The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun has asked the Joint taskforce on Anti-Smuggling, comprising men of the Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Customs to desist from the killing of innocent people.
Abiodun, who said this at his Oke-Mosan Governor’s office, Abeokuta, while playing host to the General Officer Commanding 81 Division of the Nigeria Army, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu, said they should be civil in the discharge of their duties.
The governor said his administration had intervened on several occasions to manage the crises caused by the death of some Ogun residents who were killed by stray bullets from the joint patrol on smuggling.
Recall that in December 2020, youths of Ogun State under the aegis of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, staged a protest against the alleged killings.
However, a day after the protest, there was another killing at Yewa South Local Government area of the state, being New Year’s Eve.
During the EndSARS protest as well, youths of Ipokia Local Government stormed the customs office in Idiroko border to demand an end to the killings.
The Governor, therefore, said that “Your men are involved with the men of the Nigeria Customs in a joint patrol taskforce that prevents smuggling across our border areas, but, what we’ve seen lately is that in the process of trying to contain smuggling, there have been incidences where shots are fired and innocent civilians lose their lives.
“Lately, we’ve had cases of innocent Ogun State indigenes being killed because men of the Nigeria Custom and this taskforce are trying to curb smuggling. I know our people are sensitive to this kind of things where school children are coming from or going to school, they get hit by stray bullets, commuters on motorcycles and traders in their shop getting hit by stray bullets, time and time again, this has happened and we have had to come in to manage those situations,” Abiodun said.
The governor called for restraint, asking the military officers to look into how to be more civil in dealing with the issue of smugglers to avoid “stray bullets killing our citizens.”
Urging the joint task force on anti-smuggling to be careful on duty, Abiodun assured that his government would continue to support the men of the Nigerian Army in the state.
In his response, Major General Fejokwu called on the Governor to help in supplying them with information, saying the Army would continue to work hard to curb crime in the state.
