SAPELE — A 30-year-old man, Kenneth Odje, has been arrested for impersonating the former Commanding Officer, 19 Battalion Koko Barracks of the Nigeria Army, Lt Col. C. Okoye, by men of the Battalion.
The suspect said he hails from Otefe Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The Commanding Officer of the Battalion, Lt. Col. Frank Etim who paraded the suspect, yesterday, also paraded one Tosan John, said to have hailed from Mosogar of the same local government, who was arrested for crude oil theft in the creeks of Benin River.
Also paraded was one Christian Udo arrested for kidnapping in Ovwore community in Sapele Local Government Area of the state.
While Odje and John admitted committing the crime, Udo however denied it, saying he was framed up by the executives of Ovwore community who did not understand his mission in the community.
When asked to explain how he came about a locally made short gun in his possession, he said it was one of the community executives who tied it to him when he was arrested by the JTF.
Lt. Col. Etim, however, confirmed that the suspect had earlier confessed to the crime and had even given useful clues.
Odje was arrested for impersonating the former Commanding Officer, and in the process obtained various sums of money from unsuspecting students and parents seeking admission into Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna.
He confessed to have collected N160, 000 from one Chief Joseph Omene in Mosogar with the promise to facilitate the admission of his son into the NDA. He equally disclosed that he got his camouflage army uniform as a gift from the daughter of a high chief in Mosogar, who deals in fairly used cloths purchased from Cotonou.
The commanding officer further said: “The soldiers will continue their search for those with a desire for violence and criminality in the area,” adding that all ex-militants are enjoined not to abuse privileges of the amnesty programme offered by the Federal Government to perpetrate crime.
Suspected Army chief’s impersonator, two others paraded
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