SOLDIERS of the 4 Brigade/Sector 1 Joint Task Force, codenamed
“Operation Pulo Shield,” on Thursday, announced the smashing of an armed
robbery gang, whose membership were policemen serving in the Nigeria
Police.
Briefing journalists on behalf of the Commander 4
Brigade/Sector 1 Joint Task Force Operation, Benin City,
Brigadier-General Pat Akem, Army Public Relations Officer, Captain
Roselyn Managbe, said troops under the command also arrested a suspected
kidnap kingpin, Joel Ogbu, a.k.a Avenue, who facilitated the arrest of
other members of his gang.
Managbe said: “On June 26, troop of
222 Battalion, on patrol at Orhoror Junction on the Bomadi Road, in
Delta State, around 2.00 a.m, arrested a suspected armed robber, who
claimed to be a police inspector attached to ‘A’ Department of the
Nigeria Police, Bayelsa State Command. He was caught blocking the road
with woods, while other members of his gang, who were armed, took cover
in the bush along the road. When he sighted the Nigerian Army Quick
Response Group driving towards them, the inspector tried to withdraw
into the bush, but was caught, while other members of his gang escaped.
“In
his confessional statement, the suspect revealed that members of his
gang were all serving police personnel, who indulge in robbery
activities after their normal duties. The suspect also confessed that an
Assistant Superintendent of Police (name withheld) and an Inspector of
‘B’ Department of the Nigeria Police Force, Bayelsa State Command, are
members of his gang.”
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the
arrested inspector, however, said he was arrested on his first outing as
an armed robber.
“It happened that they were robbing people and I
decided to join them. I was not in uniform, but others were in
uniform,” he said.
Also paraded among the suspected criminals was a Lance Corporal, who was dismissed from the Army.
Some of the items recovered from the suspected criminals included an axe, locally-made double-barrelled guns and handsets.
Tribune
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