Army arrests impersonator in Enugu

The Army says it has arrested a suspect posing to be a soldier and busted a vandalism syndicate in the Nsukka axis of Enugu State in the ongoing operation, “Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1,’’ in the state.
Briefing journalists on recent achievements of the exercise on Thursday in Enugu, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Maj.-Gen. Lasisi Adegboye, said the suspects were arrested by troops of Sector 5 within the state.
Adegboye said that since the commencement of the exercise, a lot of threats to security had been curtailed by troops at various super camps, based on accurate intelligence reports, in collaboration with other security agencies.
He said: “On Tuesday, November 26, troops of Sector 5 of “Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1” on routine patrol arrested one impostor at Nsukka in Enugu State, while impersonating to be a serving soldier of the Nigerian Army.
“The suspect was in a vehicle conveying garden eggs from Abuja to Abia State. Preliminary investigation revealed that he was given a lift by the driver of the vehicle he boarded because he claimed to be a soldier.
“Items recovered from (him) includes a Nigerian Army identity card, one pair of desert camouflage t-shirt, two camouflage t-shirts, one 3/4 camouflage short, one mobile phone and the sum of N40,000.
“Others are a fake N1,000 note, a Japanese Yen, a toy pistol, a fake Nigeria Police identity card, 26 Nigerian Army vehicle stickers, 23 Nigeria Army emblems, one pair of desert boots, two engineer cap badges, a name tag bearing (suspect’s name) and a jackknife,’’.
Adegboye noted that in a similar development, troops of Sector 5 on patrol on Wednesday at Opi, near Nsukka, were informed by some locals about the activities of some suspected electric cable vandals in the town.
“A pursuit by our troops led to the arrest of one of the criminals (name withheld) while the other two fled on sighting the troops.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the vandals came from Udi, Onitsha and Enugu. However, his attempt to bribe the soldiers with N700,000 was stiffly resisted by the soldiers,’’ he said.
He said the suspects would be handed over to the police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) commands in the state for further investigation and prosecution.
The GOC gave the assurance that the division would continue to protect lives and property of citizens within its areas of responsibility.
He advised members of the public to report any suspicious movement(s) person(s) or object(s) to the army.
“The public should report through Nigerian Army emergency call up no. 193 or other “Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1” sectors’ call up numbers earlier published.
“I wish to thank the good citizens of the South-East for their continuous support and goodwill as troops deployed for “Exercise Atilogwu Udo 1” create conducive environment before, during and after the Yuletide,’’ he added.