Israel Amusu, who claimed to have been
recently offered an admission into a university in the Niger Delta, is
now in trouble for impersonation and armed robbery.
Amusu, 24, was arrested by the police in
Lagos after a motorist complained of robbery to the police at the Elere
Police Division. At the time of his arrest, he was dressed in an Army
uniform.
But the suspect denied that he was involved in robbery. In an interview with CRIME DIGEST, he said that the incident with the motorist was just an altercation.
“I was in company with my friend,
Kevin, whom I had met previuously at the Toll Gate at Sango Ota. Kevin
told me he was a serving soldier assigned to the National Youth Service
Corps Orientation Camp at Iyana Ipaja. I believed him because he was
putting on an army uniform at the time and on subsequent occasions, some
of his colleagues had confirmed his claim.
“We became good friends after I told him
that I was very much interested in enlisting in the army. I told him
that I was recently admitted into a South-South university and if it was
possible for me to get a degree and still enlist in the army. Kevin
gave me the assurrance that it was possible. He said all I needed was to
purchase the forms whenever they were available. We became good friends
after this,” Amusu said.
CRIME DIGEST gathered that in the evening of Nov. 7 2012, Amusu received a phone call from Kevin requesting a meeting at the toll gate.
Later, Kevin took Amusu to his brother’s house at Iyana Ipaja and handed him a set of army uniforms and boots.
“He told me to wear them because he was
going to introduce me to his colleagues at the NYSC camp. He said I
would likely find favour with his colleagues if I was dressed like them.
After I bought him a bottle of wine, we took off for the camp,” Amusu
recalled.
But as both men attempted to stop a
commercial motorcycle, a Volkswagen Golf car approached them. Kevin
scolded the driver of the vehicle, possibly because the latter drove too
close to the motorcycle.
A hot exchange ensued as the driver refused to back down.
“At first it started as a disagreement,
but when the man responded, Kevin became infuriated. Kevin got down from
the bike and walked to the car. He threatened to arrest the driver and
it got so bad that passers by stopped and tried to intervene.
The driver had a friend who came out of
the car and tried to pacify Kevin. While he was doing this, the driver
quickly reversed and drove off, leaving his friend behind.
“Kevin threw the bottle of wine in his
hand at the car and broke the windscreen. He quickly got on the bike and
told the commercial motorcyclist to give a chase, but they returned
without the man. Unknown to us, the man had gone to the police to lodge a
complaint,” Amusu said.
Despite Amusu’s claims, the Lagos State
Commissioner of Police said that the matter revolved around a case of
robbery and impersonation.
He said, “A certain Ebenezer Olamide
with car registration number FH 135 APP lodged a complaint at the Elere
Police Division on Nov. 7. He said that at about 19 hours that same day,
Kevin and Amusu had accosted him at Ijokoro Street and robbed him of
his cell -phone and N4,000. Olamide claimed that the duo had also
attempted to steal his car but abandoned the idea when Olamide raised
the alarm.
“Although Kevin successfully escaped,
Amusu was apprehended and taken to the police station. From
investigations so far, Kevin is not a serving soldier with the Nigerian
Army and has no affiliations with the NYSC camp at Iyana Ipaja.
“A team went to Kevin’s home, where
Amusu claimed to have been given his uniform. However, nothing
incriminating was found at the scene. The case has been transferred to
SARS and efforts are being made to track down and arrest Kevin.”
SOURCE: PUNCH
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