The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has blamed the shooting of a clearing agent by an official of the agency on hoodlums preventing its patrol teams from moving an intercepted Toyota SUV to their office”.

As reported by FIJ, clearing agent Adeyemi Quadri was shot at Mile 2 along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on Wednesday, according to multiple eyewitnesses.

But responding to FIJ’s queries on Thursday, Theophilus Duniya, a Deputy Superintendent of Customs and Public Relations Officer, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, said: “At about 1338hrs of Wednesday, 16/03/2021, one of our patrol teams intercepted a Toyota SUV. On their way to the office, some hoodlums organized themselves, blocked the driver in an attempt to obstruct the movement of the vehicle to the office. They started stoning the officers and also struggled to disarm one of them.

READ MORE: Customs Officer Shoots Clearing Agent Twice in the Leg at Mile 2

“While acting in self-defence, one of the hoodlums got injured. The team was able to demobilize the hoodlums and move the vehicle to the office. Investigation had since commenced into the incident as directed by the Unit Controller.

Members of the public, especially the youths, are once again advised not to allow themselves to be used by economic saboteurs.”

Contrary to Duniya’s claims, multiple witnesses told FIJ that the clearing agent that was shot is no hoodlum.

“God! That guy’s face is familiar. He’s an agent and not a hoodlum,” one clearing agent said when Dunia’s statement was forwarded to him. “Same thing could have happened to me just last month and they would claim I’m a hoodlum. My God!”

READ MORE: ‘He Said He’d Give Me Water So That I’d Die’ — Clearing Agent Recalls How He Was Shot by Customs Officer

Quadri, the victim, also said he is an agent and the the one driving the cleared car.

“They stopped me and said I should get down from the car.,” he said. Before telling me that, they were slapping me, hitting me with gun. He brought out a knife and said he would stab me. He said I should bring the car key. When I wanted to disembark from the car, he shot me in the leg. The importer, the owner of the car, was sitting beside me.”