By Evelyn Usman
One of the eleven suspects arrested by military operatives in Lagos for using Military uniform to perpetrate criminal acts, 34-year-old Sule Akinshiku, a farmer, disclosed that he used the uniform to work as an escort for people who do not have a pass to move around the state due to the lockdown.
Speaking with journalists during the parade by the General Officer Commanding, GOC Major General Olu Irefin, in Lagos, Akinshiku stated that he got the Military uniform from a serving soldier.
He said, “I make between N4000 and N5000 every day, out of which I give to the person that gave me the uniform. I am a farmer but because there is not much to do at the farm and owing to the lockdown, I decided to use the uniform to feed my family”.
Another suspect, Akingunola Folorunsho, who was arrested with a double-barrel gun, claimed to be a Marine Engineer.
He said he used the weapon found on him for hunting, adding that he was on his way to the farm when he was accosted.
When asked where he got the Military camouflage jacket he was found with, he said he bought it during his trip outside the country.
For James Felix, a deserter, who was dismissed from the Nigerian Army in 2015, he appealed to the Chief of Army Staff to reabsorb him into service.
He denied using the uniform to commit crime, explaining that “I left the North East for seven days without permission and was dismissed.
“But when I went to Ojo barracks to pack my things, I was not allowed access, as I was told there had not been any signal to that effect. Since October last year, I do not have anything doing. I want to use this medium to appeal to the COAS to reinstate me into the Army because I love the profession and I had already spent ten years before I was dismissed”.
Speaking earlier, the General Officer Commanding, GOC Major General Olu Irefin, explained that they were arrested by operatives of Operation Checkmate and the division’s Intelligence group.
He disclosed that one of the suspects, Adeniyi Adesokan, who resides in Owode area of Ogun State, went to secure the release of a motorcycle at Ijaiye Ojokoro Police division, identifying himself as a Lieutenant Colonel, while wearing a green Military woodland T-shirt and a face cap.
Recovered from one of them was a double-barrel gun, while another was arrested with a Tundra jeep painted in Military colour.
The suspects according to the GOC would be handed over to the police for prosecution, adding that the recovered Tundra painted with Military colour would not be released until the owner changed the colour.
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