Olota of Ota, Oba Abdukadir Adeyemi Obalanlege has admonished men of the
Nigerian Customs and Excise over constant raid of markets in his domain and admonish them to stop harassing innocent traders in Nigerian
markets over their failure to protect the country’s borders against smuggling.
Olota was irked by what he described as “reckless abandonment” of the Nigeria
customs responsibility to guide the country’s borders against smuggling and
shifting their attention to innocent traders outside the borders.
Oba Olota was responding to a mass protest by women traders in Sango market
who accused Customs officials of breaking into their locked-up shops Tuesday
night and carted away hundreds of bags of rice and other market wares.
A trader, madam Nusirat who was an eyewitness and victim alleged that the
men in customs paraphernalia arrived their shops at about 1.30 am Tuesday,
fully armed, and broke into shops and removed bags of rice and other valuables.
She added that her hand bag containing the previous day’s sales proceeds, was
snatched and taken away.
Olota, who was accompanied to the locus inquo (site of the crime) by some of
his chiefs and a visiting traditional ruler, Oba Olufemi Ogunleye, Towulade
Akinale, questioned the rationale of the customs’ raid at midnight if their actions
were genuine and transparent. Kabiyesi assured the traders that an official report
would be launched with the Comptroller of Customs, pleading with the traders
to remain calm and not to engage in self-help.
