Operatives of the Ogun State police command have arrested eight suspects in connection with the alleged killing of a police inspector at Imasayi, a border town in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state.

There was a violent clash yesterday in the border town between officials of the Nigeria Customs Services and residents of the community, which resulted in the murder of the inspector.

The deceased, according to the command’s spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, was a member of the national border team, which was on routine anti-smuggling operations.

Oyeyemi said: “They killed one policeman that was attached to the national border team. They seized his gun to hit him with a car and then shot him to death. Some suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime and his riffle had been recovered.

“Presently, the case is being handled by the homicide section of the police command. We have arrested eight suspects and have been transferred to the homicide section of the Police State Command, Eleweran, Abeokuta”, he added.

The command’s spokesman added: “We are still hunting for members of that syndicate and we are not going to rest on our oars until the last person that participated in that nefarious activity is apprehended.

“Those who did it have invited trouble and they would see the trouble. It is barbaric to launch an attack on law enforcement agents that are doing their normal duty. We will do everything humanly possible to get them punished. They are criminals.”

Meanwhile, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, has called for restraint in the use of arms by law enforcement officers in the state. The governor said he has had to intervene in the unrest that erupted in Imasayi.

The sovernor said this in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, on Sunday. The statement read that Abiodun had been in contact with relevant authorities in the Army and the Nigeria Customs Service.

The statement further added that talks were ongoing towards apprehending the suspects who allegedly killed a uniformed officer in the melee and took away his rifle.