An army deserter, David Agbebaku, has been arrested by the men of Osun state Police Command alongside three of his accomplices, for suspected armed robbery and obtaining money under false pretense.
Others arrested with Agbebaku, aged 35, were Olubunmi Adewale, 34, Oderinde Oluwaseun, 35, and Ibrahim Ajibola, 27.
Parading the suspects before newsmen, the state’s Police Commissioner, Wale Olokode, said Agbebaku and Oderinde were arrested on 2nd March, 2022, while Ajibola was arrested earlier on 9th of February.
The police boss said, “in the course of investigation, Agbebaku David confessed that he deserted from the Nigeria Army in the year 2015, later rearrested, de-kitted and consequently dismissed by the Army authority in the year 2020 as Lance Corporal.
“Not quite long after his dismissal, he obtained the sum of N300,000 under false pretence from the complainant and fled; until the 2nd March, 2022 when he was arrested by the police.”
Speaking with The PUNCH, Agbebaku said he ran away from warfront in Maiduguri, when he refused order and Army authorities wanted to arrest him for mutiny.
He however denied using Army uniform to commit crime, saying he was in his house in Osogbo, when police operatives arrested him.
“Police came to my house and found the uniform where I kept it. They asked me to put it on. I wanted to go and drop it for a senior Captain in Ikeja cantonment in Lagos. It is not my own. I have dropped my own when I left the military.
“I didn’t use army uniform to commit any crime. I ran away from the Army in Maiduguri when I refused order from a superior authorities,” he said.
But Adewale, told The PUNCH that he was given Army Identity Card and vest by Agbebaku, after he complained of police incessant harrassment.
Olokode said the suspects would be charged before court after investigation.
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