The House of Representatives’ Committee on Customs and Excise has invited the Controller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), over the recent killing of eight in Katsina State and five in Oyo State by officers of the border security outfit.

Also to appear before the committee for questioning are the comptrollers of Katsina, Oyo and Osun states.

The Chairman of the committee, Leke Abejide, made this known to our correspondent on Friday.

A Toyota Hilux pick-up van being driven by customs officers ran into a group of people in Jibia, killing some and injuring others.

The NSC confirmed that eight people were killed by its officers at the border town of Jibiya in Katsina State, attributing the accident to a brake failure.

Meanwhile, the committee was already investigating the killing of five persons in Iseyin, Oyo State, on May 13, 2021 – a Sallah day.

Officers of the Federal Operations Unit of the NCS allegedly killed the persons in an attempt to arrest smugglers and seize smuggled parboiled rice in two sports utility vehicles.

The lawmaker representing lseyin/ltesiwaju/Kajola/lwajowa Federal Constituency in Oyo State at the House, Mr Shina Peller, on May 18, 2021, moved a motion to demand an investigation into the killings and compensation of the victims’ families.

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When contacted for an update on the probe into the killings in Oyo, Abejide said the Katsina killings would also be investigated, while the customs boss was invited for questioning.

“We have written a letter to the CG. We copied the same letter to the comptrollers. They are to appear on 2nd September.

“There was an incident that happened again, where about 10 people died in Jibia; they said customs killed 10 people. Honourable Sada Soli complained that people were killed, so the CG would come the same day as the Comptroller of Katsina Command,” he added.

Abejide had earlier told our correspondent that comptrollers of Oyo and Osun commands, as well as the Deputy Comptroller in charge of Enforcement in Oyo, would also answer questions.