Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Saturday clashed with suspected smugglers in Kobape area of Ogun State, causing serious pandemonium and commotion.
It was gathered that the Customs officers were on the trail of suspected smugglers, trafficking foreign parboiled rice.
At Kobape junction, along the Abeokuta-Sagamu highway, the smugglers had parked to resist the officers.
Some were seen pelting the law enforcement agents, a few of them were holding cutlasses.
To repel them, the customs officers fired gunshots, throwing residents and commuters into confusion.
Travellers on the highway were stranded as they took cover within the Kobape community, which took them over six hours to gain access to the expressway.
A number of drivers abandoned their vehicles and fled for dear lives, seeking refuge in the bushes along the road.
For about 30 minutes, residents of the Egba community were dazed with fear, running helter-skelter over the sudden outbreak of violence that disturbed their peace.
While calling on the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Abimbola Oyeyemi, he said that he was aware of the incident, noting that their men had been on top of the situation.
It took the commuters and road users of the area over six hours to have access to the road due to the gridlock the incident had caused, two vehicles belonging to NSC were vandalized.
It could not be immediately confirmed whether or not there was any casualty in the incident.
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