The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has denied the
allegations that its operatives attacked a car along Ningi-Kano road which led
to the death of a journalist and four others.
It was reported that the late journalist, a freelance reporter with Daily Trust Newspapers in Jos, was killed in a fatal motor
accident along with four others on Ningi-Kano road last Saturday.
However, the NCS Public Relations Officer of Federal
Operations Unit Zone D in Bauchi, Suleiman Isah, in a statement made available
to journalists in Bauchi yesterday, said the allegations were made by the
friend of the deceased journalist on twitter.
According to him, “The attention of the Nigeria
Customs Service was drawn to the misleading tweets by @KNingi on his twitter
handle purporting that ‘Officers of the @CustomsNG yesterday (Saturday) on
Ningi-Kano road attack a driver carrying bags of rice’.”
Isah said the twitter user added that
"incidentally, this resulted in the death of about five passengers,
including my friend, reporter of @daily_trust, Bashir Musa Liman."
Isah, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs II,
lamented the tweet was false, mischievous and aimed at "misleading the
public that the operatives of the NSC have a hand in the accident that caused
loss of lives.
"This story is mischievous, misleading and
false in its entirety. As responsible operatives of government, our heart and
prayers go to the families of the deceased. We pray Almighty God to grant the
deceased Aljannatul-Firdausi."
He said it was however important to keep the record
of the unfortunate accident straight by stating that there was no operative of
the NCS on that road in question on that fateful day.
"Immediately after reading the misleading
tweet, we began to find out what actually happened. Eye witnesses, including a
brother of one of the deceased, have clearly shown that Customs operatives were
never associated with the accident since there was none on that road.
"Every narration revolved around over-speeding
and attempt to overtake a vehicle which led to the fatal accident was false. We
also gathered that one of the vehicles involved in the accident was carrying
some bags of rice, therefore, some people thought it could have been operatives
of the NCS that caused the accident," he stated.
The Customs PRO, therefore, advised that any person
interested in further verification of his statement is free to contact any
appropriate authority, including the Nigeria Police Force, "that might
have been on the road when this unfortunate accident happened."
Isah noted further that "as humans, we share
in the pain of losing loved ones. Let me use this opportunity to call on
@KNingi.1d and indeed other social media users to be careful, and always verify
their stories before posting or tweeting on social media especially when it
concerns serious issue like losing human life.
"Let me once again extend the condolences of the
Service to the families of the deceased and pray for safety for every traveler."
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