The Edo State Police Command has arrested a Naval personnel, Samuel Eze (24) for alleged involvement in car snatching in Edo state. Eze who hails from Eboyi state is among the 27 suspected criminals paraded by the police for various crimes, ranging from armed robbery, car snatching, kidnapping, cultism, cyber crime, among others.
The suspect who was attached to the Nigeria Navy Engineering College (NNEC) Sapele, Delta state, told journalists that he was not aware that the vehicle in which he was arrested was stolen. “I was on break when a colleague of mine, Kanu Henry, called me to help escort a vehicle (Toyota Hilux) to Kano for one Alhaji,” he said, adding that his colleague never told him that the vehicle was stolen but he only got to know when they got to Abuja.
He said the there was nothing he could do afterwards but to meet the Alhaji to give him transport fare back to Benin. “I was given N100, 000 by the Alhaji but I don’t know how much the Alhaji and my colleague negotiated. I was arrested when I came to Benin to collect the uniform sent to me from Lagos by my office. I have been in the Navy for four years, receiving N76,000 salary. If I knew it was a stolen vehicle, I would not have followed them,” he said.
Parading the suspects, the State Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, said 27 suspects were arrested over a period of two weeks.
He said six were arrested for armed robbery and car snatching, five for kidnapping, 13 for cultism while three were arrested for cyber crime.
