Family Demands Justice For Boat Operator Killed By Customs Operatives

The family of Orofin Segun, a speedboat operator allegedly killed by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has petitioned the Akwa Ibom State commissioner of police (CP), Waheed Ayilara.

A human rights lawyer and solicitor for the family of the deceased in Mbo local government area,  Ogunbiyi, Oluwajuwon Henry, LEADERSHIP learnt petitioned the CP on behalf of the family of the late speedboat driver.

Segun was alleged to have been killed by men of the NCS at Ibaka, a coastal community in Mbo LGA, on Monday, May 13, 2024.

In a petition letter to the CP, dated 15th May,2024, and made available to LEADERSHIP in Uyo, the state capital yesterday, the petitioner urged the police to thoroughly investigate the incident with a view to bringing the perpetrators of the dastardly act to justice.

He alleged that Customs operatives on gunboats had shot without caution with the sole aim of murdering the deceased who had earlier rebuffed attempts to be extorted along the waterway.

The petition is titled: “Gruesome murder of Orofin Segun by men of Nigeria Customs Service along Mbo Waterways.’’

It reads: “We are Solicitors for the family of the Late Orofin Segun, an indigene of Ilaje LGA of Ondo State, and on their strict instructions, we write this petition.

“The late Mr. Orofin Segun was a speed boat driver conveying both passengers and goods from Oron to various riverine communities before he was brutally and gruesomely murdered by men of the Nigeria Custom Service attached to the Eastern Marine Command gun boat at Ibaka in Mbo Local Government of Akwa Ibom State on May 13, 2024.

“Information at Our disposal points to the fact that the trigger-happy men of the Nigeria Customs Service operating the gun boat shot sporadically and recklessly without caution with the sole aim of murdering the deceased who had earlier rebuffed their attempt to extort him along the waterway.

“There is no law in Nigeria as presently constituted that empowers anyone to extra-judicially take the life of another irrespective of the status of the person and there can never be any justification whatsoever for killing of the deceased.

“This dastardly act is another example of the excessive and indiscriminate use of force by law enforcement agents across Nigeria.

“We hereby call upon you, to use your good office to investigate this matter thoroughly and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book as we ourselves will not rest in our oars until justice is done and everyone can see it is done in this instant matter.”

Efforts to speak with the Nigeria Customs Service, Ibaka, proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.