Three customs officers attached to the Federal Operations Units (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja and a soldier have sustained severe bullet wounds when suspected smugglers ambushed their patrol van along Abeokuta Expressway, Ogun State.
The injured officers are being treated in an undisclosed hospital in Lagos, while there is an ongoing effort to apprehend the fleeing gunmen.
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The Acting Controller, in charge of FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, Usman Yahaya, who confirmed the attack, said the injured officers were on a trail of six vehicles laden with smuggled bags of rice.
Yahaya said about 6 am on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, officers of the unit, while carrying out their statutory duty of enforcing anti-smuggling laws acted on intelligence and intercepted six vehicles laden with foreign parboiled rice at Abeokuta Expressway.
He said upon the interception, some armed hoodlums working in support of smugglers swiftly mobilised themselves and attacked the officers in their bid to prevent the seizure from being taken away.
He said in the crossfire, the operatives overpowered them and were able to evacuate three out of the intercepted vehicles to the warehouse.
DC Yahaya, while thanking the law-abiding citizens for supporting the operations, warned people with criminal intentions to desist from such because officers/men of the unit shall remain resolute at enforcing the laws without fear of intimidation.
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