Army deserter arrested for armed robbery in Benin

Suspect

FILE PHOTO: Some suspected armed robbers

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

FILE PHOTO: Some suspected armed robbers
FILE PHOTO: Some suspected armed robbers

An army deserter, simply identified as Lance Corporal Adegoke, has been arrested for armed robbery in Benin, Edo State.

Adegoke who claimed to have served with the 29 Battalion, Nigerian Army, in Port Harcourt, capital of Nigeria’s south-south Rivers state, said he deserted the army after he was posted to Maiduguri to fight the Boko Haram Islamist sect.

The runaway soldier who was arrested alongside two members of his gang after they allegedly terrorizing residents of Ikpoba Hill, Upper Mission and its environs in Benin, said he abandoned his unit, leaving with military rifle and uniform with which he formed the robbery gang.

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Adegoke who was paraded by the state police command with his partners in crime, said he knew he had done wrong and pleaded for forgiveness.

Police sources confirmed that the runaway soldier spent only two weeks in Maiduguri and the fled in January.

The Police Public Relations Officer of Edo Police Command, DSP Stephen Onwochei, said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation into the matter is concluded.

He noted that since Adegoke has deserted the army, he would be treated as a civilian.

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