Lagos taskforce arrests fake army officer

The fake second lieutenant

Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Task Force has arrested a man who claimed to be a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army.

The suspect, Mr Oluwayelu Adeboye, 27, who lives at 4 Union Street, Dopemu, Agege area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, confessed that he claimed to be a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army in order to secure the release of an impounded commercial vehicle by operatives of the Lagos State Task Force.

The suspect, according to investigations, was rusticated from the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, in 2014 for impersonation.

He disclosed that he had at one time or the other pretended to be an officer of the Nigerian army, navy and the police in order to secure the release of anyone arrested at different police stations across Lagos.

Adewole said he also carried out his illegal activities through telephone conversations for the release of impounded vehicles from different law enforcers and that if he had succeeded in his latest bid, he would have charged the owner of the impounded vehicle N15,000 or more.

He said he was on his way to Ogba in Ikeja to collect his original 2010 West African Examination School Certificate results when he saw operatives of the taskforce impounding someone’s vehicle for traffic obstructions and that he felt it was another good business for him as usual, which was why he quickly intervened.

The impounded commercial vehicle belonged to Mr Muritala Ayowunmi, an officer of the Nigerian Navy at the Military Clearing Office, Apapa.

The suspect confirmed further that he followed the owner of the impounded commercial vehicle to the Lagos State Task Force headquarters at Alausa where he was interrogated by the Chairman of the Task Force, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi and later got arrested with his fake documents.

The owner of the impounded commercial vehicle, Ayowunmi said he never knew the suspect.

“I don’t know him (suspect) from anywhere. He just came to me and introduced himself as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian Army and I gave him a full compliments (salute) as a senior officer only to later found out after interrogations at the Lagos Task Force Headquarters that he was an impersonator,” he said.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni immediately directed the Task Force Chairman, Egbeyemi to charge him to court for impersonation.