Traders in the Agip Market in the Agege area of Lagos State, have alleged that armed officials of the Nigeria Customs Service invaded their shops and looted their properties in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to the traders, who protested the actions of the officials on Thursday, the security guards manning the premises were dislodged and property worth millions of naira were reportedly stolen.
On why the guards did not record the criminal scene, the traders explained that their phones were seized.
The victims who wept profusely during the protest, were also seen carrying placards bearing inscriptions like “Asiwaju our father, please save our soul,” “Nigerian government, please intervene in our case,” and “Customs broke my shop and made me a debtor overnight,” among others.
Ijeoma Eze-Okoye, one of the traders said the officials allegedly burgled and looted bags of rice, and money, among other goods in shops of traders operating in Akerele and Agip markets in the space of three weeks.
She said, “My shop is at Akerele Market. My shop is the first shop they broke into around 1am about two weeks ago. It was Customs officials that stole my goods. I was informed that Customs officers were at our place (shops) around 1am.
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“They said somebody pointed my shop to them and the Customs officers alongside the hoodlums that they brought broke into my shop and looted my goods. They carried bags of rice valued at N6m. They broke into two shops after my own. They carried the bags of rice inside there.”
The aggrieved trader said she was asked how she knew Customs officials were responsible for looting her shop when she reported the case at the Elere Police Station.
She, however, replied that the guards and a resident in the area saw them during the operation.
Similarly, a trader in Agip market, Aina Irawo, accused the Customs officials of stealing no fewer than 200 bags of rice from her shop.
Irawo said, “Have mercy on us. Customs officers came to burgle my shop. They carried 200 bags of rice yesterday (Wednesday). They also broke my safe and carted away N6m. Have mercy on us. We are only trading at Agege, we didn’t go to the border.”
Another trader in the market, Arike Olafathia, said, “We sell goods inside Agege. Customs officers do come at midnight to break our shops. When they came, they would seize the phones of our security guards.
“Around 2am on Wednesday, they came with about five Hilux vans and broke into three shops at Agip market in Agege. The security guards told us they were Customs officers. They did this after invading the Akerele market a few weeks ago and took about 250 bags of rice. This is debt! We can’t feed our children. It is too much and that is why we are protesting.”
Contacted, the spokesperson for Customs, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Theophilus Duniya, said, “We have no record of any operation.”
The national spokesperson for the agency, Abdullahi Maiwada, when contacted, also said, “We discussed that issue with him (Duniya) today, fortunately, I am in Lagos, we were in the same location with him today and he referred to that issue. I saw the text you sent to him, it is good you relate with him.”