Police arrest fake military officer, 61 kidnappers, vandals
The Nasarawa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested a 28-year-old suspected fake military officer, in Lafia Local Government Area of the state.
The suspect, Timothy Emmanuel, was arrested along B.A.D Road.
Parading the suspect at the Police headquarters in Lafia Friday, the state commissioner of police, Mr Adesina Soyemi, said the fake officer was arrested while wearing military camouflage.
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect who paraded himself as a military officer was never enlisted into the Army but got the uniform from his uncle who is serving in Borno State.
The police boss said: “The suspect stole the military uniform from his uncle and moved to Jos, Plateau State, under the guise of being a military officer. He went away with the AK49 rifle and two magazines of an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps serving in Jos when the rifle was left in his custody by the NSCDC personnel who had gone to obtain his National Identity Card.
“The suspect came down to Nasarawa State and started perpetrating his nefarious activities in Karu and Lafia local government areas before he was arrested. The suspect had given the police useful information and investigation is ongoing at State Criminal Investigation Department, Lafia,” Soyemi added.
Items recovered from the fake military officer were an AK49 rifle with two magazines and a black Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number Abuja BWR 973 CD suspected to have been stolen.
The command said it also arrested seven suspected rail tracks vandals at Adevi village, Jenkwe Development Area and Obi Local Government Area of the state on Thursday at about 4pm.
According to him, in continuation of the fight against rail tracks vandalism, police operatives of the Antikidnapping Unit led by CSP Aniette Eyoh intercepted an unmarked truck conveying the rail tracks stocked in two containers along LafiaMakurdi road on August 8, 2021, at about 11pm.
Also, he revealed that the command arrested 61 suspected kidnappers, including cultists at different locations in the state.
In an interview with the suspected fake military officer, Timothy Emmanuel, he confessed to have committed the offence, saying he used the uniform and AK49 rifle he stole from a NSCDC personnel in Jos to rob his victims.
His words: “I have been into this business for several years, but I have never killed anybody during my operation. I stole the military uniform from my uncle who is serving in 1 Division Maiduguri.”