FAKE NAVAL OFFICERS ARRESTED FOR EXTORTION

Police officers attached to the Ilado Police post, near the Ajakoyi Beach, have paraded four fake naval officers and a soldier for alleged extortion of residents.  Vanguard reports that the suspects who were dressed in military uniform were apprehended in Lagos state at the weekend by youths at Ilado area of the state while they were fleeing in a canoe after escaping from police detention.

Reports say the suspects were later handed over to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) Lagos state command in Ikeja.

A resident of the area, who gave his name as Wasiu Omojola, told Vanguard that:

 We are predominantly fishermen but some of us do oil business. The military personnel used to come to extort money from us daily.
We didn’t even know that they were fake officers. They would come in military uniform. Their leader whom we later realized is an Army Sergeant would dress as an Army Lieutenant Commander. He would gather us and warn that the Army High Command had sent him on a special duty.
He told us that his group was on Joint Military operation. He then instructed us to contribute N2 million for his boss. We were able to raise N500, 000. The following day, they prevented us from doing our job, so we had to contribute another N300, 000. They still said it was not yet okay with them.
I don’t know how one of us reported the development to Army authorities who said that they didn’t send any team for joint military patrol to our area. When we got the information, we now mobilized against the self- acclaimed joint military patrol.
When they arrived the following day to resume their extortion, we arrested them. They did not believe it when we took them to the Police. We were later informed by the same Police that the suspects escaped from their cell, so we mobilized again and gave them a hot chase. We later arrested them and brought them to SARS.

It was gathered from a source within the police that the Nigerian Army confirmed that the suspect who paraded himself as a lieutenant was actually a sergeant.

The Army has taken him for court-martial but we have written to the Army that after the court martial, the man should be brought back to the Police for proper prosecution,

 the source said.

Speaking to newsmen, one of the suspects who gave his name as Oche said:

Well, there is no job in the country. My friend who is an Army Sergeant brought the idea of going to collect money from those doing illegal oil businesses. The sergeant provided me with the uniform that I am putting on now. I don’t know about others. Sergeant is the one sharing our loot. I got N50,000 three times but I could not believe it when we were arrested. It is true, we escaped from Police cell. We broke through the window protectors. It was while we were escaping through the waterside that we were re-arrested and handed over to SARS.

Reacting to the arrest, the state’s commissioner of police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the quick arrival of his officers saved the suspects from being lynched by irate mob.

They were robbing people of their belongings. The people were attempting to lynch them when the Police stormed the place and rescued them. The sum of N380, 000 was recovered from the suspect,

Owoseni said.