Apprehended… Fake military man tha tterrorize neighbors in Lagos

*Ifeanyi Ofoegbu
A 25- year- old man, Ifeanyi Ofoegbu, was recently
arrested by the Police in Bariga area of Lagos, for
parading himself as a military man and terrorizing
his neighborhood.
It was gathered that the suspect who hails from
Anambra state, moved into an apartment in a
compound at No. 9, Shokunbi- Bariga a few years
back, and started trading in second –hand clothes
which he brought from Cotonou in Benin Republic
and sells them at Yaba market, Warri in Delta State
and Benin in Edo State.
Neighborhood terror
According to one of his neighbors who agreed to
speak with Crime Guard on condition of anonymity,
the suspect was a well behaved young man, who
showed respect to everyone that crossed his part.
This endeared him to his neighbors. All went well,
until sometime in 2011, when his neighbors noticed
a dramatic negative change in his character. The
once adored Ifeanyi, suddenly became Ifeanyi the
neighborhood terror.
"When Ifeanyi moved into this compound a couple of
years ago, other neighbors referred to him as my son,
and that was how I took interest in him. We all
admired him because of his respectful character; he
played with the children and bought gifts for them.
There was never a dull moment in the compound
when ever he was around. About two years ago, we
noticed a sudden change in his character.
"He became violent and fought any body that he
thought provoked him, irrespective of who the
person was. Even the children in the neighborhood
were not spared. He beats them up at the slightest
excuse, and waits for their parents or guardian to
accost him, during which he will either pick up a
bottle or any dangerous object in sight, threatening
to use it on them. He boasted loudly that nothing
would happen to him, as he was a military man.
"This baffled us, because we did not know when he
joined the army. We knew him as a second hand
clothes dealer who shuttled between Cotonou and
Nigeria. He also stopped his trading at that point.
Most times when he wants to make trouble, he would
put on a military uniform and would intimidate and
assault people. We avoided him due to this. The
Landlord invited his elder brother on several
occasions to caution him, but his efforts went futile.
At one instance, Ifeanyi chased his elder brother out
of the compound, warning him not to ever come
advising him again, if he wants to be at peace with
him,"stated the elderly man.
Arrest
Crime Guard gathered that the incident that led to
his arrest was based on a clash with the Landlord of
the house and other tenants over the disconnection
of electricity in their apartment on the 15th of
August, 2013. Before then, the suspect had
allegedly attacked some children playing near a fish
pond in the compound. He reportedly told the
landlord that if he failed to call the children to order,
he would snuff life out of them and dump their
bodies in the pond.
According to another neighbor who also spoke on
condition of anonymity, "On the 14th of August
2013, a neighbor moved out of the compound and in
the process of removing his air conditioner,
disconnected some of the electrical wires. This
affected some of the rooms as they had to go without
light until it was re-connected.
The next day, being the 15th of August, Ifeanyi
returned from where ever he went to and, instead of
cooperating with the Landlord and affected tenants
to find a solution to the development, he went to the
circuit and removed the fuss, thereby disconnecting
the whole occupants of the building.. Knowing who
he was, some of us pleaded with him, but he would
not listen.
"This prompted the Landlord to call in the Police.
When the Police arrived, he went and put on his
military uniform. He refused to re-connect the wire
when the Police asked him to do so, nor go to the
station with the Police, claiming that as a military
man, he can not answer to any other authority except
his Commandant. He also refused to show an identity
card to buttress his claims.
The Police left after ordering him to report to the
station in two hours. He went there and claimed he
was a private in the military attached to Ikorodu
division, but dispatched to Somolu/Bariga area to
help maintain peace and order. The DPO then placed
a call across to the Commandant at the water side,
who said he does not have any body that goes by
that name among his men. After some insistence on
the phone with the Military officer that he was
attached to his Command, the officer drove down to
the Police station to see things for himself. In fact,
there was jubilation in the neighborhood after he was
arrested by the police, "he said.
Drama
Crime Guard gathered that there was mild drama at
the Bariga Police station when the water side Military
Commandant got to the station and was confronted
with an unknown face. Seeing that his game was up,
the culprit gave in and confessed that he was not in
the Military. This made the DPO to order his
immediate arrest and detention.
The culprit, thereafter, led some Police men to his
abode where various ATM cards belonging to other
individuals and some military camouflage uniforms
and some parks of India hemp were recovered. The
case has since been charged to court and he was
subsequently sentenced to prison after he pleaded
guilty to the charges brought against him.
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