- Says abducted officer still missing after two months
By Felix Mordi
The mysterious circumstance under which an operative of the Ogun Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Idiroko, got missing after an attack on their patrol vehicle in Ado-Odo area of the state, two months ago, has continued to be a source of worry for the Area Controller, Comptroller Peter Chado Kolo.
The officer, Taiwo Odeyemi, was believed to have been abducted by suspected smugglers on December 3, 2020.
The Customs chief also recalled, painfully, the gruesome murder of another of his officers, an Assistant Inspector of Customs (AIC) Solomon Alagye, earlier in October of the same year, describing it as barbaric.
Addressing some media representatives at a conference held, in Idiroko, to showcase the Command’s remarkable success in the last 13 months, the Controller said: “these achievements (progress) so far, were not made on a platter of gold. On several occasions, our officers, while performing their lawful duties, come under sustained harassment and attacks from dare devil smugglers and their supporters/sympathizers, who use pump action rifles, AK47 rifles, local charms and other dangerous weapons. This, sometimes, result to casualties on either side or both.
“For instance, on the 12th of October, 2020, one officer, AIC Solomon Alagye was killed and another officer of the Service CAI (T) Taiwo Odeyemi is still missing up till today after an attack on their patrol team on the 3rd of December, 2020 by these criminal gangs”, he lamented.
He warned that such vagrant hostility and violent attacks on Customs me and other sister agencies will not deter us from the continued performance of our legitimate duties in the state.
As a panacea to that, the Customs boss stated that his Command would continue to dialogue, engage, sensitize and educate the public on social/economic implication of smuggling.
Crime Puzzle