Soldier commits suicide after killing customs officer

A soldier attached to 243 Recce Battalion Ibereko, Badagry, LCP Mahmud Sulaiman, has committed suicide after he shot dead a customs officer at Seme border.

The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday when the team leader was trying to retrieve the gun from Sulaiman following his strange behaviour.

An eyewitness, in an account of the incident, said, “In the process of retrieving the cocked weapon from him, which he resisted, he accidentally fired a shot and the stray bullet hit one Inspector of Custom, C.N Walter.

“The customs officer, who was attached to Seme Border Area Command, was rushed to the Badagry General Hospital for treatment.

“Unfortunately, the customs officer died at about 6:40am on Thursday in the hospital. Sulaiman also shot himself and died on the spot.”

The incident occurred at Oloko checkpoint, Gbaji on Badagry-Seme expressway.

It was learnt that Sulaiman, who was recently redeployed to the Ibereko Battalion from the Theatre of Operation in the North-East, had been behaving abnormally since assumption of duty in Badagry.