Nigerian Army has disowned ‘soldiers’ allegedly involved in the robbery of a bullion van in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
It would be recalled that police arrested seven armed robbers including two soldiers over an attack on a bullion van.
The van was coming from Enugu State when it was attacked in Abakaliki on July 29, 2020, which caused the death of four police officers and injury for others.
Read Also: Police Arrest Two Soldiers, Others For Bullion Van Robbery
Col. Aliyu Yusuf, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations in 82 Division of the Army, said this in a statement in Enugu state.
Yusuf, in the statement noted that the two alleged soldiers are not serving in any of Nigerian Army’s units, commands, formations or divisions.
He expressed;
The attention of Headquarters 82 Division Nigerian Army has been drawn to on-line publication on the unfortunate Bullion Van Robbery incident at Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on July 29 which led to the arrest of two suspected dismissed soldiers and other gangsters involved in the act.
It is necessary to inform the public that the so-called soldiers in the report are not personnel of the Nigerian Army since 2015 and 2018; when both Corporal Ayeni Samuel and Corporal Emeka Harrison were dismissed.
Available record shows that Dismissed 03NA/53/088 Corporal Ayeni Samuel was dismissed in 2018 for desertion and pipeline vandalism at 174 Battalion.
The dismissed soldier was attached to 174 Battalion from Command Day Secondary School, Ikeja for United Nations mission in the year 2013. Dismissed Corporal Ayeni deserted the Unit and was later arrested for pipeline vandalism at Ikorodu in Lagos State in 2018.
Yusuf added;
In line with Nigerian Army extant rules and regulations, Ayeni was officially tried and awarded dismissed regiment as a Corporal and not Sergeant; as claimed in the online story.
Also, dismissed Corporal Emeka Harrison was tried and dismissed regiment from 7 Division Garrison, Maiduguri since 2015.
According to police report after the arrest of the suspects, 12 undetonated improvised explosives, one GPMG, six rifles, 51 AK-47 magazines,1,620 ammunition, 2 robbed vehicles, and charms were recovered from them.
All suspects, upon interrogation, confessed to the Bullion Van Robbery and revealed that 4 out of the rifles recovered belongs to the policemen they killed during the robbery.
The suspects are now assisting the police to arrest the remaining members of their gang.
