There was confusion at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, on Thursday, when a Customs officer attached to the airport command,beat a staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to stupor, for preventing him from driving against traffic.

Trouble started, according to a source, when the FAAN cargo staff whose name was given as Taiwo Adeyanju, who was at the time driving out through the cargo gate, confronted the Customs officer identified as H. Daboh, who was in mufti as of the time of the incident, for violation of traffic rule, by driving through the Monument Gate leading to the cargo side of the airport, through a well marked exit gate.

The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the Customs official, who could not comprehend the audacity of the FAAN staff, alighted from his car and descended on Adeyanju with punches.

Before unleashing several blows on the FAAN staff, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the Customs official  brought out a can of tear gas and sprayed it directly on Adeyanju’s eyes, a barbaric act which led to his unconsciousness, before he was rushed to FAAN clinic where he was subsequently referred to the Air Force Hospital within the airport, due to the severity of the blows inflicted on him.

It took the intervention of some workers at the complex and the personnel of the Nigeria Police attached to the airport, before Adeyanju was successfully rescued from Daboh who punched him non-stop.

When Daboh  realised the consequences of his action, he attempted to escape, by driving directly to the office of the Customs at the airport, but he was given a hot chase by some workers at the airport, who apprehended him and took him to the police station within the airport, where his senior officers intervened, before he was released.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune at the Air Force Hospital, Adeyanju said the intention of the Customs officer was to blind him totally but for the intervention of some people at the venue of the incident, even as his Volkswagen Gulf with the registration number Lagos: EPE 136 BK was partly damaged by the officer.

“The Customs officer was in mufti when the incident happened this morning (yesterday). I was driving out of the Hajj and Cargo Terminal through the exit point when I saw a vehicle driving in through the exit point. I actually challenged him, but I was still inside the car and all of a sudden, the man who I later gathered was a Customs officer came out and rained blows on me.

“As I made attempt to come out of the car, he held me by the neck and brought out a teargas and sprayed it directly into my eyes. It took the intervention of passers-by before I could be rescued from his grip. Later, he attempted to run away, but he was chased by some of my colleagues right into the Customs complex,” Adeyanju said.

Tribune…….

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