Police arrest fake soldiers in Delta

The police in Delta State, south-south Nigeria, said they have arrested two members of a criminal syndicate who disguised as soldiers in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Mr Edafe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the suspects were arrested when a combined team of police operatives from Response Squad, Raiders Squad and Operations Department, raided their hideout on Sunday.

The police spokesperson said the hideout, which is around Okwe Axis of Asaba in Oshimili South Local Government Area of the state, was raided at about 4:30 p.m.

The Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Muhammed Ali, detailed the operatives to carry out the raid operation in response to an information that the syndicate was planning to cause mayhem in the state, Mr Edafe said.

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He gave the names of the arrested suspects as Mike Okon, 27, and Wilson Sunday 24 – all males and indigenes of Cross-River State, another state in the south-south Nigeria.

“When search was conducted on them, an army camouflage uniform, a pair of black jungle boot were recovered from Mike Okon, while three green berets, one black beret were recovered from Wilson Sunday,” he said.

Investigations into the incident had commenced, the police said.

Arrest of suspected armed robbers

Mr Edafe said the police also arrested a suspected member of a robbery gang in the state on Sunday.

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The police spokesperson said the suspect was arrested when police operatives from Eagle-Net Special Squad, who were on patrol, intercepted three members of the gang in a tricycle being conveyed to an unknown location.

He said when the suspects were searched by the operatives, three locally made rifles and one live cartridge were recovered from a bag of rice.

“Two of the suspects took to their heels and escaped into the bush, abandoning the tricycle, and the rider named Ahmed Umaru, a 26-year-old man from Ayingba Local Government Area of Kogi State,” he said.

The police said the tricycle rider was arrested, and the exhibit recovered.

“Efforts to arrest the fleeing suspects are ongoing,” he said.