Olaide Oyelude, Katsina
A pupil of Morawa Primary school in the Batagarawa Local Government Area of Katsina State, Bello Salisu, is in a critical condition at the Accident and Emergency Department of the General Hospital, Katsina, the capital, after being hit by stray bullets allegedly fired by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The incident reportedly occurred along Katsina/Kano Road on Friday when customs officials were chasing smugglers conveying rice and second-hand clothes in a Peugeot J5 bus.
The boy, who sustained injuries in his hand, shoulder and neck, could hardly speak when our correspondent visited the hospital on Friday.
Salisu said he was hit by bullets after hearing gunshots and running to the road to see what had happened.
An eyewitness, Abubakar Yusuf, confirmed that the customs officials were chasing smugglers when the incident occurred.
He said, “The customs officials were chasing a bus with smuggled rice and second-hand clothes and in the process, they shot at the smugglers. That was how the boy was hit by bullets. We had to rush him to the hospital immediately after the incident but the customs officials didn’t stop, they drove away.”
The Principal Personnel Officer of Batagarawa Local Government Education Authority, Aminu Bello, called for an urgent intervention by the government to avert similar incidents in future.
An official of the NCS, who identified himself as Ibrahim and claimed to be standing in for the Public Relations Officer of the Katsina/Kaduna Command of the NCS, Theophilus Duniya, said they were not aware of the incident.
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