PUNCH
The recent spate of arrests of military personnel, particularly a naval rating, Femi Oyewole, raises fears about the increasing insecurity in the country as more law-enforcement agents are being nabbed for various crimes, SODIQ OJUROUNGBE writes
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.
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.
