Police Nab Army, Naval Impostors In Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested two suspects in separate operations for alleged impersonation and fraud in Yenagoa.

In a statement yesterday by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Musa Mohammed, the command said the arrests were made under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, Iyamah Daniel Edebor.

In the first incident on February 13, operatives attached to Ekeki Division arrested a 25-year-old suspect, Kelechi Lazarus, who allegedly attempted to withdraw N200,000 from a POS operator at Ekeki Park, Yenagoa, using a fake bank alert.

The suspect was reportedly dressed in a military camouflage uniform with the rank of a Corporal.

Mohammed said the suspect showed the POS operator a supposed credit alert on his phone, but the victim did not receive any confirmation of payment.

When verification was made at the bank, it was confirmed that no such transaction had occurred.

The suspect allegedly tried to persuade the operator to accompany him to his bank and later suggested going to his “base” at 16 Brigade.

When the victim refused, he reportedly assaulted her before he was arrested by responding officers. Illicit substances were also recovered from him.

Further checks by the Commissioner of Police with the Military Police of 16 Brigade confirmed that the suspect was a dismissed soldier from the 82 Division, Enugu, in 2024.

The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation and prosecution.

In a related development, on February 16, troops of 16 Brigade arrested another 25-year-old suspect, Isah Aliyu Umar, at the 16 Brigade Mosque premises in Yenagoa and handed him over to SCID.

The suspect, a native of Bauchi State but resident in Kaduna State, allegedly paraded himself as a Lieutenant of the Nigerian Navy in different states.

According to the PPRO, a search on the suspect led to the recovery of several falsified documents, a Nigeria Navy name tag, multiple SIM cards, passport photographs, camouflage and navy trousers, an Android phone, three national identity cards, a fake DNV Management System Certificate and a fake report claiming ownership of seven million dollars by a company.

He said investigations are ongoing and both suspects would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.