by Akan Ido

A Customs officer was killed by an angry mob yesterday while making his way to the office at Seme border.

The officer was said to have been attacked after another officer reportedly shot a rice smuggler in front of Operation Two Area at the border post earlier in the day.

The smuggler was said to have attempted to bring in bags of rice without authorization into the country from Benin Republic.

Vanguard Newspapers report:

The development was confirmed by the Seme Customs Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ernest Olottah, in a statement.

According to him, the dead Customs officer was brought out of his car and beaten to death while his car was set ablaze.The suspected smuggler identified simply as Saturday, was said to have been shot during an argument between him and another Customs officer.

Saturday, is an indigene of one of the communities at the border area. He is said to be recovering at an undisclosed hospital.

Olottah’s statement read in part: “The deceased Customs officer while in his uniform unarmed and driving to the command’s headquarters for a routine meeting was accosted by a mob who forced him out of his vehicle. Buoyed by an identified chief of the community, the officer was murdered in cold blood and his vehicle set ablaze.”

He added  that the attack may not be unconnected with the hard stance of the command to smuggling.