Connect with us

Metro

Day after killing bus conductor, stray bullet fired by Custom officer hits pregnant woman

Published

on

Day after killing bus conductor, stray bullet fired by Custom officer hits pregnant woman

A day after a bus conductor identified as Toheeb Olayiwola who was in a vehicle loaded with smuggled rice was shot dead by men of the Nigerian Customs Service, a pregnant woman who resides at Iyana Iyesi area of Sango-Ota, Ogun State was hit by a stray bullet fired by a Customs officer.

Reports say the woman with an eight-month-old pregnancy identified as Mrs. Bukola Olugunna who works with the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), Ota office, was rushing to resume duty when she was shot by Customs officials who were chasing suspected smugglers on Idiroko Road.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident sparked outrage and tension in the area as aggrieved youths threatened to lynch the Custom officers who were later arrested by policemen attached to Obasanjo Farms Police Station while the woman who was hit by bullets in the back and left side of her body was taken to a nearby hospital.

Read also: Suicide bomber kills 10 in attack on mosque in Borno

Reacting to the incident, Customs Public Relations Officer, Ogun Area Command, Abdullahi Maiwada, said the shooting was unfortunately accidental.

“The officers were on the trail of a suspected smuggled vehicle and in the process, they were mobbed by some unpatriotic members of the public.

“The officers were left with no option than to shoot sporadically into the air. In the process, the said woman was brushed by a stray bullet.

“The Customs officers were in police station for safety to avoid mob attack not the insinuation that they were arrested by the police. We spoke with the relative of her husband and the doctor. They both confirmed that the woman is responding to treatment.”

Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said policemen rescued the Customs officials from the mob. He also stated that normalcy had since returned to the area and the shot victim was responding to treatment.

 

RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears

Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now