Some officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) stationed at the Idiroko command in Ogun State are still making attempts to recover a van they once seized, and took a N1.45 million “release bribe” for, from Adeboye Sowale, a petroleum marketer in the state.
This was made known to FIJ by Ahmed Olorunde, Sowale’s driver, on Monday.
“As at Monday last week, Shina, the thug the Customs officers have been using to threaten me and my boss approached me in my area in Idiroko to again demand that I return the van they once seized from us to their office,” Olorunde said.
Copy of Letter Sowale’s Lawyers Wrote to the Comptroller-General of Customs
“This time, and unlike the threats Shina had issued in the past, he spoke to me in a less hostile tone. He said the Customs officers who seized our van and the 2,200 litres of fuel never knew Mr Sowale, my boss, had a lawyer.
READ MORE: Ogun Customs Seized Marketer’s 2,200L of Fuel, Labelled Him a Smuggler, Took N1.45m Bribe From Him, Then Sold the Fuel to Another Station
“He added that since my boss seemed to be well-connected, we should return the van to their office. After this, the lawyer can then approach the Customs office and officially facilitate its release from their custody.
“When he said this, I knew it was a deceptive move that was aimed at luring us into releasing the van back to them. I remained silent and did not respond to him till the conversation ended.
“It’s funny that they still want us to return the van to their office after taking a N1.45 million bribe for its release from my boss.”
On August 5, FIJ reported how Sowale was accosted by some Customs officers while transporting 2,200 litres of petrol from one of his filling stations that had the product in abundance to another that had none.
The officers, after interrogating Sowale, labelled him a smuggler and seized the fuel that was worth N1,584,000 and the van conveying it. This happened after Sowale had shown them the waybill he had with him during the incident.
READ ALSO: Undercover as a Smuggler
In the end, the Customs officers re-sold the fuel they had seized from Sowale to another petroleum marketer in Idiroko and forced Sowale to pay a N1.45 million bribe before the van could be released to him.
In trying to avoid being implicated while receiving the bribe from the marketer, the officers used Shina as the recipient of the money.
Two of the officers were later identified as one Mukaila Lawal and one “Mr Phillips”.
When FIJ subsequently reached out to Mr Phillips via phone calls and text messages for comments on the incident, he chose not to respond.
Instead, Phillips reached out to Shina to get Sowale, through Olorunde, to return the vehicle to the Customs office in Idiroko.
The post Ogun Customs Want Petrol Marketer’s Van After Taking N1.45m Bribe From Him appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.