Officers of the Delta State Police Command have arrested an ex-soldier, Sani Abubakar, for his alleged membership of a car snatching syndicate.
The state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Zanna Mohammed Ibrahim, announced the arrest the while addressing journalists at the command headquarters in Asaba on Wednesday. According to Mr. Ibrahim, Abubakar, who deserted the Army in 2013, was nabbed after the other gang members had been rounded up. He hails from Tudun Wada quarters of Zaria, Kaduna State.
"At about 1700hrs, while on stop and search on PTI Road, Effurun, operatives of 51 Police Mobile Force, Oghara, accosted one Toyota Corolla car with registration number EKY 128 DM and was carrying four occupants.
"Two of the occupants took to their heels as soon as the vehicle was stopped for a search.
"One Happy Sunday, a 24-year old male, and Stanley Vincent, 29, were arrested," said the CP.
He added that the vehicle was recovered along with two locally made pistols, six AR live cartridges, handsets, and charms belonging to the gang. Mr. Ibrahim also said investigators have identified and contacted the rightful owner of the car, one Mrs. Nwamaka Nwizu of Aka Avenue, Effurun. Mrs. Nwizu, the CP disclosed, said the car and other valuables were snatched from her.
The ex- soldier's arrest was made possible on November 11, following a confession by the principal suspect, Stanley Vincent, that the former soldier usually escorted vehicles snatched by the gang to a receiver in Kaduna.
A phone call, the CP said further, was made to the former soldier through the suspect and an arrangement made for him to escort a Toyota Avalon car.
He (the ex-soldier) requested that the vehicle be taken to their meeting point in Benin, where detectives arrested him. "He introduced himself as a soldier and presented a Nigerian Army I.D card bearing Rank: Corporal, Name: Sani Abubakar and P/No. 2005/NA/57/3561.
However, the suspect has confessed to the crime and revealed that he enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 2005, trained at Zaria Depot and was posted to Supply and Transport, 3 Division, Nigerian Army, Jos, Plateau State, but deserted the Army in 2013," Mr. Ibrahim told reporters.
The CP added that a four-man kidnap syndicate was smashed, while several armed robbery suspects were also arrested. The suspects, he disclosed, will soon be charged to court.
