Yoruba nation agitators caused a scene on Saturday when they forcefully reopened the gate of the country’s land borders with Benin Republic at Idiroko in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The land border had been closed by the Federal Government since 2019 in order to checkmate the rate of smuggling across the country’s land borders.
A 19-minute video that surfaced on social media on Saturday showed the agitators acting violently, with a gun being snatched away from an Immigration officer.
In another scene, a man in a yellow T-shirt can be seen shooting the gun into the air to the admiration of others at the scene.
Different voices are heard in the video calling on soldiers and other security agents to come out and shoot.
“We have opened the border at Idi-Iroko!” they shouted.
A young man, who was accused of trying to record the incident with his mobile phone, was attacked and beaten by the agitators.
The agitators were, however, repelled by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service who were manning the border town.
Hammed Oloyede, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun 1 Area Command, confirmed the incident.
He, however, insisted that the agitators were repelled.
“There was no attack on our patrol bases or checkpoints. Those guys were just doing their own. They tried to attack one patrol point, but it was repelled. The situation is under control. There is no problem,” Oloyede told the Punch.
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