By Ifeoma Ikem
The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, Nigeria Army Major General Olu Irefin has called on the Lagos State Police Command to always stop and search vehicles of persons in military uniform as fake Soldiers are on the prowl in the state.
General Irefin said some of these persons who claim to be military personnel or wear military uniforms are not military personnel but are just civilians using the uniform to dodge being checked.
He spoke while parading no fewer than 12 imposters who claimed they were military personnel and have been using the uniforms of the force to dodge security checks and sometimes commit other nefarious activities.
The GOC said one of the suspects who was caught wearing a Lieutenant Colonel rank was also caught with the letterhead paper of the Military Police, with which he had applied for the visa at the United States Embassy.
He said , “I am appealing to Lagosians and other sister agencies, to confront soldiers like this and ask for identification and once there is anything suspicious contact the Military, and we would be able to make necessary arrests.
“All the arrests were based on information and activities of Operation Checkmate, and we will continue with the operations until we save Lagos and its environs from dubious characters.
“We are still investigating how some of them who have military uniforms came about them.
“immediately after the parades we will hand them over to the Police for further investigation and possible prosecution” he said