Naval rating’s arrest: More military personnel named in robbery, kidnap cases
There is great concern among Nigerians and security experts over the repeated involvement of personnel of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force in various crimes of recent times.
Monitored reports, in the last few months, have indicated that some security operatives, also of the Nigerian Navy, now run kidnapping and robbery syndicates which by implication, threaten the security of lives and properties.
The recent of these arrests was that of a 50-year-old naval rating, Femi Oyewole, who was alleged to be the head of a car snatching syndicate that operates in Lagos and its environs.
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According to Daily Trust, Oyewole, who was arrested by policemen attached to Zone 2, Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, confessed during a parade of suspects, which held last week Wednesday, to have sold most of the stolen cars to senior naval officers.
The naval rating was paraded alongside three others, identified as – Joshua Adeleke, Kabiru Ismaila, and Ukpabi Bright Ikechukwu.
The naval rating told journalists that he had been arrested three times for the same offence of car theft and robbery, but he always secured his freedom, and still continued with his nefarious activities.
He revealed that despite being caught, the Nigerian Navy did not set up any disciplinary committee against him because some of the senior officers were allegedly said to be accomplices.
He said, “I am a serving naval officer attached to the headquarters of the Western Naval Command, Naval Base, Harbour Road, Apapa. I am the leader of a car-snatching gang. I have served in the Nigerian Navy for 22 years. I have been arrested for similar offences by the police. I have also received more than 15 units of vehicles from members of my gang.
“In 2016, I was handed over to the Western Naval Command when the police discovered that I am a serving naval officer for necessary disciplinary action.
“I was subsequently arrested alongside Joshua Adeleke and Kabiru Ismaila for a similar offence by operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 2019, where seven units of vehicles were recovered from me.
“I was handed over to naval authorities for necessary disciplinary action, while Joshua and Kabiru were prosecuted.
“No disciplinary action was taken against me because some of the receivers of the stolen vehicles are top officers in the Nigerian Navy,” he said.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2 (Lagos and Ogun states), Adeyinka Oyeleke, while parading Oyewole alongside the other suspects, said, he received intelligence on December 20, 2022, that a gang of car snatchers, robbed a victim of a Gold Toyota Sienna vehicle, and sold same to one of their numerous buyers.
The Niger State Police Command in December 2022 launched a manhunt for three soldiers and two police officers, including an Assistant Superintendent of Police, indicted in connection with the assassination attempt on the Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa.
The State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Force said an investigation by the police indicated that the three army officers, said to be from the 31 Artillery Brigade Minna, including CPL Mohammed J. were allegedly involved in the assassination attempts.
Security experts have identified the recruitment process and the much touted poor welfare package as major factors responsible for the involvement of security operatives in criminal activities.
An expert, Jackson Ojo insisted that the recruitment pattern into the Nigerian security forces is weak and unhealthy.
Ojo lamented that politicians have taken over the decision of who becomes a security operative in the country.
He noted that, people recruited into the security architecture of the country were supposed to be profiled, and also check mentally.
He said, “When you build a mansion on a very weak foundation, it is like you have not built at all. What is the recruitment pattern for Nigeria’s security forces? The recruitment pattern into Nigeria’s security forces is very weak, rotten, and unhealthy. There is nothing good in the recruitment process of our Nigerian security men and women. Punch
