Traders protest as Power-drunk Customs officials loot traders shops overnight

Early on Wednesday, armed Customs officers allegedly broke into stores in the Agip Market in the Agege neighborhood of Lagos State and stole goods from market vendors.

During a protest on Thursday, the businessmen described their losses and claimed that goods worth millions of naira was allegedly taken by the officials who trashed their stores after displacing the security officers on duty.

The traders claimed that the accused officials took their guards’ mobile phones during the protest, which began around 9am, in order to prevent them from recording the incident or contacting other traders and market leaders who were at home sleeping at the time. Some of the traders were seen crying hysterically as they lamented the development.

The traders were also seen carrying placards bearing inscriptions including “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.

One of the aggrieved traders, Ijeoma Eze-Okoye, 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.

“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.”

When questioned how she knew Customs agents were involved for looting her shop, Eze-Okoye responded that the shop’s guards and a nearby neighbor witnessed them during the operation. She added that she reported the incident to the Elere Police Station.

Aina Irawo, a trader whose store was similarly impacted in Agip market, claimed that 200 sacks of rice were stolen from her store by Customs authorities.

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.”