An officer of the Nigeria Customs Service attached to Kano/Jigawa Command has sustained injury in following a clash between officials of the service and rice smugglers.

A statement yesterday by the command’s spokesman, Danbaba I., said the attackers also burnt one patrol van, Daily Trust reports.

“Our men were to execute information on suspected smuggled vehicles, an accident occurred not too far from the location where our men are operating. When road safety came, they sought for the assistance of our men to evacuate the injured persons to the nearest hospital.

“Unfortunately, while the discussion was on, the smugglers stormed the scene of the accident and attacked our men claiming that they were the ones caused the accident,”  he said.

An official of the command was also hit dead by an over speeding rice smuggler on January 30.

The Kano/Jigaw command’s comptroller of the service, Nasir Ahmed, who disclosed this yesterday, warned that the service would not condone such lawless act on its personnel by smugglers.