At least one person has been reportedly shot and three vehicles burnt following a violent clash between officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and residents of Ayetoro in the Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The incident, which occurred on Friday evening led to the burning of three Customs vehicles and the shooting of a youth, known in the community as Soliu.

An eyewitness, Razak Adeyemi, told newsmen that trouble started after a heated argument ensued between a Customs official and a resident suspected to be a smuggler.

The matter was said to have later been resolved and both parties went their separate ways, The PUNCH reports.

He added that four fully-loaded Customs Hilux vehicles stormed the community about an hour later, with the officers shooting indiscriminately into the air.

The development reportedly angered the youths in the community, leading to a violent face-off between the officers and youths in the community.

Adeyemi said, “It all started like a normal argument between a man and a Customs official at Oke Rori, here in Ayetoro. They had a few minutes of arguments, after which military men and residents wadded into the issue and it was resolved.

“About an hour later, four Hilux vans, with fully armed Customs officials entered our community and they started shooting anyhow in the air. After several attempts to stop them became fruitless, the youths in the area then faced them and they started shooting at the people.”

Another resident of Ayetoro, who simply identified himself as Nojeeem, claimed that the officials were shooting “as if they had been ordered to wipe out the community.”

He said, “If you see the way they were shooting, it was like a war zone, like they have been told to kill us all. If not because many of our youths are fortified, many would have been dead by now. One man called Soliu who was shot three times.”

When asked about the victim’s whereabouts, Nojeem said he had been taken away by his family members to a traditional care centre.

The Public Relations Officer of NCS, Ogun Area 1 Command, Hammed Oloyede, confirmed the incident.

Oloyede noted that the command had commenced investigation into the reasons for the clash.

He added, “The situation is currently under investigation.”