Navy Officer Drowns in Badagry Anti-Smuggling Raid

A somber mood has enveloped the Badagry community following the tragic death of Nigerian Navy officer OS Nuhu, who drowned during a major operation aimed at halting rice smuggling in Lagos State’s Badagry waterways.

The ill-fated incident occurred on Saturday during a large-scale naval crackdown led by Captain Oyeleye Omotayo. According to reliable sources, the Navy had launched an intense raid on smugglers transporting contraband rice from Benin Republic into Nigeria. The operation resulted in the interception of at least twenty boats loaded with foreign rice in the notorious Badagry-Porto Novo creek—an area long associated with cross-border smuggling.

Tragically, while personnel were moving seized rice in one of the boats, it suddenly capsized, instantly drowning Officer Nuhu. Another officer on board suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital, with his current condition unknown.

Eyewitnesses recounted that the waterside swiftly became chaotic as security officers and locals scrambled to rescue those on board. “Immediately, OS Nuhu died while the other officer was rushed to hospital,” a local source explained. The Nigerian Navy has yet to issue an official statement on the event.

The drive against rice smuggling is complicated by persistent allegations of corruption within the Nigerian Customs Service. Multiple dealers and insiders allege that Customs officials collect as much as ₦250,000 per boat from smugglers, allowing illegal shipments to pass unchallenged. Locations such as the Marina Customs base, Iya Afin, and Erekiti are frequently cited as “safe passages” due to weak enforcement and official complicity. Exclusive videos obtained by a well-known journalist even documented large volumes of rice being offloaded in broad daylight.

The ramifications are sharply felt by legal rice merchants in Badagry, who say they are being crippled by this unchecked influx of untaxed goods. “We can’t compete with rice that doesn’t pay duties,” an affected trader lamented. “They’re flooding the markets while we are being pushed out.”

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Despite repeated requests, neither the Nigerian Navy nor the Customs Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, have provided public comments on the incident or addressed the widely circulated allegations of corruption.

This incident is a stark reminder of the grave dangers security personnel face in their efforts to safeguard Nigeria’s borders and the urgent need for stronger institutional responses to smuggling and corruption in the region.