A naval personnel, Muritala Feyisola Ayowunmi, says he felt like committing suicide when he realised that he had paid full military complement to a fake army colonel.
The naval personnel who is attached to the Military Clearing Office, Wharf, Apapa, had his vehicle impounded by officials of the Lagos State Task Force at Ogba.
During the argument that ensued between the naval personnel and the task force officials, a young man, Adeyemi Lawal Alao, emerged from nowhere and claimed to be a colonel in the Nigerian Army.
Having identified himself as a military officer, the naval personnel saluted him smartly in accordance with the military tradition.
Minutes later, the impostor who was later identified as Adeyemi Lawal Alao, was discovered to be a fake colonel.
In shock, the naval personnel said, “I felt like committing suicide after I realised that I had paid full military complement to a fake soldier.”
The naval personnel who is the owner of the impounded commercial vehicle said, “I don’t know him (suspect) from anywhere, he just came to me and introduced himself as a lieutenant colonel in the Nigerian Army and I gave him a full complement (salute) as a senior officer only to later find out after interrogations at the Lagos Task Force Headquarters that he was an impersonator.”
Investigation into the activities of the suspect, Adeyemi Lawal Alao, revealed that he was rusticated from the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro (2014) for impersonation offence.
It was also discovered that the 27-year-old suspect had at many instances impersonated security operatives.
The suspect narrated that he was on his way to Ogba in Ikeja to collect his original Year 2010 West African Examination School Certificate when he saw operatives of the agency impounding someone’s vehicle for traffic obstruction and that he felt it was another good business for him as usual and quickly waded in.
The suspect confirmed further that he followed the owner of the impounded commercial vehicle to the Lagos State Task Force Headquarters at Ikeja where he was interrogated by the chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi and later got arrested with fake documents.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, directed the Lagos State Task Force chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, to charge him to court for impersonation.
He said the Lagos State Police Command and other security operatives across the state would continue to arrest miscreants and criminals at their different hide outs until they have a change of mind and became law abiding citizens.
