Customs Official Brutalises Civilians For Filming In Lagos ‘Smuggling Zone’

Renowned investigative journalist and founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Fisayo Soyombo has accused an official of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) of brutally assaulting two civilians at Oloko in the Badagry area of Lagos State.

The incident, captured in disturbing videos, allegedly occurred after the men attempted to carry out video recording of activities at a location he described as a “smuggling zone.”

Soyombo took to his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday morning to share footage of the incident, showing a Customs officer, identified only as “Aboribo Custom,” physically assaulting the civilians while asking them who sent them.”

One of the men could be heard in the video asking, “Okay now, if you are not in good terms with Tunde, Wetin make you dey do this video?”

“See, you go regret this thing wey you dey do so, for this Badagry”, one of the uniformed men said.

“The Tunde wey you dey work for, na me send am go South Africa, ask am”, the uniform men went on.

The man in uniform questioned further, “The Tunde wey you dey work for, how much e don give you?”

“Wetin you wan use am do? The video wey you do, wetin you wan use am do?,” the uniform men asked while continuously flogging the men.

In his post, Soyombo directly addressed the Nigeria Customs Service, “Good morning, @customsNG. In the videos below, one of your men simply known as ‘Aboribo Custom’ can be seen on the left side of the screen brutalising two civilians for attempting to record videos in a smuggling zone in Oloko, Badagry.”

The journalist questioned the motives behind the assault, accusing the Customs officials of trying to hide questionable activities at their checkpoints.

He wrote, “What secrets exactly are you hiding around Customs checkpoints to warrant assaulting two grown men in this manner?”

Soyombo’s exposé has sparked outrage on social media with many Nigerians condemning the actions of the Customs officer and calling for accountability.

In his concluding remarks, Soyombo cautioned the agency, “Learn from the events that triggered #EndSARS; stop tempting the people.”

The incident highlighted the recurring issue of alleged misconduct by security agencies in Nigeria where civilians often bear the brunt of unchecked authority.

As of the time of filing this report, the Nigerian Customs Service was yet to respond to the incident.