Afrigather 
A 14 year-old-boy, Ibrahim, misplaced his life when a J5 Peugeot bus being chased by officers of the Nigerian Customs Service in Jibia rammed into bystanders in Jibia city, Katsina State.
Witnesses advised Premium Instances that the bus was being chased by officers of the Federal Working Unit, Zone B of the Nigeria Customs Service when it crushed the boy round 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 3, 2024.
The accident occurred round Tudun Wada Major College, Tashar Huraira within the city.
“We had been sitting in entrance of Mai Masara filling station when the accident occurred. The J5 driver was at excessive velocity making an attempt to run away from the customs officers when he misplaced management of the steering wheel and ran right into a crowd however solely the boy received crushed. We had been fortunate too. Different folks had been fortunate to flee,” stated an eyewitness, who gave his identify as Buhari.
He stated the customs van reversed and drove again to their checkpoint after the accident.
“I used to be on the farm round 11 a.m. when my nephew rushed to tell me of the incident,” Ibrahim Musa, {the teenager}’s father advised the publication over the cellphone. “Once I reached the scene, he was already lifeless. His physique was severely broken by the car,”
Musa, a peasant farmer, stated onlookers and different members of the family took the corpse to the Divisional Police Workplace in Jibia from the place they had been referred to the hospital the place the boy was confirmed lifeless.
“The DPO requested us to make a press release and handed the lifeless physique to us. He requested us to go and bury it since that they had already taken our assertion. I need the federal government to do justice to us, the Customs officers triggered this as a result of they had been chasing a car in a populated place like Jibia,”
He stated acceptable sanctions have to be taken to function a deterrent.
The Chairman of the Jibia Peoples Discussion board, Gide Dahiru, stated the driving force of the J5 knowledgeable them that the soybeans in his car had been introduced from Batsari and never the Niger Republic.
“The scenario in Jibia is turning into complicated as a result of we don’t know what the customs officers are speculated to cease. Even should you usher in items from Katsina or Kano, they cease and ask you for a bribe. For those who refuse to present them they are going to seize the products and say it’s contrabands,” he lamented.
The Federal Operations Unit Zone B Kaduna spokesperson, Isa Sulaiman, stated the accident was not attributable to Customs officers.
“I’m conscious that we have now a staff alongside the Jibiya Border that’s inside a 40km radius. The officers of the NCS didn’t trigger the incident you’re referring to as alleged; it was attributable to the reckless driving of the driving force of that J5 bus you’re referring to. However some unscrupulous parts are hell-bent on twisting the narration,” he stated.
“Smugglers are sad with our resolve to make sure that illicit gadgets don’t discover their manner into the nation” however the service would proceed to implement the directives of the federal authorities regardless of efforts to smear its identify,”
“We’re a Service of reputation and we sympathise with the households of the victims and an investigation is ongoing to unravel the reason for the incident in collaboration with related companies. Whoever is discovered responsible will face the results of his actions,” he stated.
