Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina state, has vowed that his government will sue the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) if they failed to prosecute the driver and other officers involved in the death of eight persons in Jibia Local Government.

Mr Masari also asked that compensation be paid to the people affected by the accident.

“You must pay compensation to the affected people and also prosecute the driver and other officers involved in the incident. If not, we will take legal action on this issue,” the governor stated.

Mr Masari made this known when the zonal coordinator of the Zone ‘B’ Kaduna command, Mohammed Uba, paid him a condolence visit on Monday.

The death of the eight people was described by the Nigeria Customs Service as unfortunate.

Operatives of the NCS in pursuit of suspected smugglers in Jibia Local Government, on August 9, 2021, lost control of their vehicle and killed about eight persons and injured 14 others.

“As a government agency, we are not unmindful of our paramilitary responsibility, which is to protect lives.

“As part of the visit, the controller-general, retd Colonel Hamid Ali has mandated us to interact with communities, leaders, the bereaved families and the victims of the accident to report our findings.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the government, the good people of Katsina State and other sister security agencies in the spirit of inter-departmental cooperation.

“Most importantly, we appreciate the host communities and the trading public while not leaving out the gentlemen of the press for their continued support,” he said.

Meanwhile, the governor expressed concern over the activities of the border drill in the state.

“These drills are not conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations guiding them.

“The people of Katsina State don’t deserve such treatment by the operatives of the customs’ border drill in the state,” he said.

He also urged them to apply intelligence in discharging their duties to avoid further loss of lives.

“The Katsina government is not supporting smuggling in any way, but you can imagine about 28 checkpoints on the Katsina-Jibia road. They are not checkpoints, but rather toll gates,” Mr Masari lamented.

The zonal coordinator had earlier addressed the operatives of the Katsina command, calling on them to always respect human lives while on duty.

“Overzealousness by patrol officers should be minimised as reported cases will be punished.

“Adhere to the procedure on the transfer of seizures which must be intelligence-driven, relying on inter-departmental cooperation and collaboration,” he said.