Two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun I Area Command, were critically injured on Thursday after armed men suspected to be drug traffickers attacked a patrol team during an anti-smuggling operation in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the officers were acting on credible intelligence when they intercepted a 12-tyre truck believed to be conveying a large haul of illicit drugs and other prohibited items at Akokoro area of Iwoye around 4pm.
Before reinforcements could arrive, the suspects reportedly mobilised armed hoodlums who launched a coordinated assault on the operatives.
In a statement on Friday, the command’s Public Relations Officer, Zakari Chado, said the attackers opened fire on the officers, shot out the tyres of a Customs patrol vehicle and erected barricades on key access routes to prevent backup from reaching the scene.
He said, “The suspects mounted heavy barricades at about nine strategic points to obstruct reinforcement and then opened fire on our officers.
Two officers sustained gunshot injuries and are currently in critical condition, receiving intensive medical care.”
The gunmen reportedly fled with the intercepted truck amid the chaos.
Reacting, the Acting Customs Area Controller of the Ogun I Area Command, Deputy Comptroller Olukayode Afeni, condemned the attack, describing it as “barbaric and unacceptable,” and vowed that the Service would not be deterred in its mandate to combat smuggling and protect national security.
He said investigations had commenced to identify and apprehend those responsible, adding that Customs would work with other security agencies to dismantle the syndicate behind the attack.
Afeni also called on traditional rulers and community leaders in border communities to caution residents against engaging in smuggling and violence against security personnel, warning that offenders would face the full weight of the law.
The incident comes amid heightened efforts by security agencies to curb the trafficking of hard drugs and other prohibited goods across Nigeria’s porous borders, particularly in Ogun State, which shares a long frontier with the Republic of Benin and has remained a major corridor for cross-border smuggling.
Residents of the affected communities expressed fear over the rising brazenness of armed smugglers, urging authorities to strengthen patrols and surveillance along border routes to forestall further attacks on law enforcement officers.
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