The Nigeria Customs Service, Kebbi State Command, has confirmed the killing of two of its personnel by gunmen suspected to be bandits in the state on Thursday.

The spokesman for the command in the state Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Mubarak Mustapha, confirmed this in a press statement he made available to newsmen in the state on Friday morning.

The statement confirmed that the team who were on a stop-and-search operation along the Bunza – Dankingari- Koko road when the suspected bandits in a Toyota Corolla car engaged them in a shootout.

“On Thursday, 24^th August 2023, at about 0128hrs, a team of Kebbi Area Command officers and men of the Nigeria Customs, while on a stop-and-search operation based on credible information along Bunza – Dakingari – Koko Road, were engaged with heavy gunfire by suspected bandits in an ash-coloured Toyota Corolla vehicle.

“In the melee that ensued, two personnel of the Command, named Alhaji Kabiru Shehu, an Inspector of Customs and Abdullahi Muhammad, a Customs Assistant II, paid the supreme price.

“The officers have since been laid to rest according to Islamic rites.

“While praying for the repose of the deceased, the Command has launched a manhunt for the suspects with the view to arrest and prosecute them”

The statement further said that the Customs Area Area Controller, Comptroller Ben Oramalugo, commiserates with the families on the tragic incident and prayed that God Almighty grants them the fortitude to bear the loss.

The CAC also urge members of the public to volunteer information about the movement of suspected smugglers and other criminals, while assuring that such informants of strict confidentiality. (The PUNCH)

•The gunned down Custom Officers; Alhaji Kabiru Shehu, an Inspector of Customs and Abdullahi Muhammad, a Customs Assistant II.

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