Ogun Residents Flee As Nigerian Customs Operatives Burn Houses Over Death Of Two Officers
Residents of Fagbohun village in the Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State have fled their homes accusing security operatives of arresting them and burning their houses.
On October 25, some suspected smugglers in the area reportedly attacked the Nigerian Customs Service operatives after which two of them were declared missing.
They were later found dead in a river after a search party was arranged for them.
In a recent development, the Baale of Fagbohun village, Chief Simeon Fagbohun, on Monday cried out that there were reprisal attacks over the death of the slain customs officers, Daily Post reports.
According to the community leader, the customs officers razed houses, motorcycles and others, while ransacking his palace.
He added that the officers stormed the community in the middle of the night and took away some residents.
He also stated that the incident pertaining the death of the customs officer had not occurred in his community as against the rumours being spread, saying his people knew nothing about it.
Speaking to newsmen on Monday, Fagbohun noted that his people had fled their houses when the customs invaded and had yet to return.
He said: “I am here to clear some misinformation that I read on the social media about our community on the death of some customs officers in that area.
“The officers were not killed in Fagbohun village. They were killed in Iya Sango village, but the village is now desolate. The Ohoris now live in Iya Sango where they make small settlements for farming.
“The village is in Yewa land, it is about 5km to Fagbohun village; but Fagbohun is where these smugglers pass through. It is the biggest village in that axis, having vulcanizers and schools.
“Those smugglers had a stopover in our village to fix their tyres and to eat. They stopped in a place called Eti Odo in Fagbohun.
“On October 26, the customs officers came to our place. My elder brother named Johnson Olarinde Fagbohun and I parted ways at Ilaro that day. I stayed in Ilaro while he went to the village. Around 7pm, he called that he has been arrested by some customs officers and they were taking him away alongside others to an unknown destination. He said it was in connection with some slain customs officers. I was surprised.
“We later saw that they had burnt Adeoye Fagbohun’s house, his three motorcycles also and his vulcanising machine, which were all inside the house.
“One Iya Alate’s house was also burnt, the house of Mr Nathaniel was also burnt with one motorcycle. They entered Akao family’s house in the village, brought out three motorcycles and burnt them. It was the same Odunaro and Ogundipe’s houses, bikes were set on fire.
“They looted my palace; I can’t find two motorcycles in my house. The five pumping machines the farmers bought for irrigation in the dry season, we can’t find them either. The herbicide spraying machine and other chemicals on the farm, seven of them have been taken away. My doors were forced open,” the Baale alleged.
The Public Relations Officer of the Federal Operating Unit, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, Theophilus Duniya, debunked the allegations, saying seven arrests were made in the village.
“In as much as we seek to have justice for the slain officers, we cannot take the laws into our hands by destroying people’s property. So, what the Baale’s claims are, were not executed by our operatives,” he said.
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