Katsina may drag customs to court over killing of citizens

The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, on Friday said his government is considering instituting legal action against the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) over what he termed the senseless killings of citizens by its operatives in the state.

Masari, in a statement by his Director-General on Media, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, condemned in strongest terms “the oft-recurring senseless killings of citizens through reckless driving by operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service”.

The governor’s position comes in the wake of the recent death of eight people who were run over by an operative of the Service driving an official vehicle in the Jibia Local Government Area of the state last Monday.

He said: “Government is considering instituting legal action against the Nigerian Customs Service so that it may serve as a deterrent against a future occurrence of these fatal incidents, which have assumed a frightening regularity in the state.”

He warned that the government would not fold its arm while law-abiding citizens are killed with impunity by reckless government agents who are supposed to protect them.

The governor further warned that the state government will henceforth not condone any more of such incidents in the state.

Governor Masari, however, extended his sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and those who sustained injuries.