By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
ABEOKUTA: A major player in Nigeria’s real estate sector, Ambassador Babatunde Adeyemo, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently initiate accountability measures to check the excesses of operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), especially on the highway.
Adeyemo, who narrowly escaped being shot dead on December 8, 2024 allegedly by gun-totting Customs operatives in Ogun State while returning from the grand finale of Ibese Asakanran Day festival, urged President Tinubu to curb the rising cases of reckless use of guns against civilians by the NCS men.
He made the call on Boxing Day while hosting widows from different communities at The Podium, Pelican Valley Estate Laderin, Abeokuta as part of activities marking the first anniversary of his not-for-profit organisation, Oko Opo Foundation.
Adeyemo established the foundation to empower widows, orphans and the less privileged in the society.
No fewer than 150 widows were given free medical attention, including screening for blood pressure, blood sugar and relevant medications as well as food and cash palliatives to make the festive period memorable for them.
In his address, the real estate entrepreneur also urged the National Assembly and other relevant authorities to look into the numerous allegations of incessant vicious attacks by Customs officials in various Ogun communities.
Narrating how he escaped bullets of the NCS operatives, Adeyemo said: “I want you all to take a moment and join me in expressing gratitude to God Almighty for sparing my life after a near-fatal shooting incident by an operative of the Nigeria Customs Service. It was a traumatic experience, but God’s mercy and protection saw me through.”
“Perhaps, we may not be here today to mark this event if the shooting incident had taken a different turn. An overzealous, gun-totting law enforcement agent could have robbed widows of their source of joy this December but God did not allow evil to happen. Let us praise God!”
“On Sunday, 8th December, this year, I attended the grand finale of the Ibese Asakanran Day festival where I was privileged to be the Chairman of the occasion. While returning from the journey, my vehicle passed by a checkpoint mounted by Customs personnel along the Ibara-Orile area. I was inside the vehicle with some of my aides.”
“Barely five seconds after we passed the checkpoint, we all heard the sound of gunshot! We immediately parked and found that our vehicle was shot at by one of the Customs men. The bullet pierced through the back of my vehicle, damaging the back seat and was eventually stopped by the laptop kept directly behind me. But for the mercy of God, I could have been hit as I was seated directly where the bullet travelled.”
“However, I am committed to fighting this anomaly, not only for myself but also in the interest of widows, some of whom have tragically lost their spouses in similar situations.”
“We cannot continue to cut off our noses to spite our faces. Granted that government deployed law enforcement agents to sanitise society and help shore up revenue generation, the security personnel cannot continue to act with impunity. They cannot continue to kill, maim and destroy the livelihoods of those they are primarily meant to protect.”
“It is high time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly and other relevant authorities looked into the numerous allegations of incessant vicious attacks by Customs officials in our various communities.”
The government must fish out the bad eggs from the system, heavily compensate victims, devoid of bureaucratic bottlenecks and reform the Customs service to align with global best practices.”
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