Serving Soldier fighting Boko Haram arrested in Abuja for Robbery

A serving soldiers who is part of the fight against Boko-Haram insurgents in the northern part of the country has been arrested for attempting to rob a filling station in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The suspect, Abel Solomon, 30, said the operation would have fetched him N20 million if it had scaled through. But The robbery operation plan was ruined by the Inspector General of Police Special 

Solomon and his gang members were arrested while still fine-tuning their plan. He confessed that the Pump Action Rifle recovered from him, which he wanted to use for the robbery operation, belonged to a Boko Haram insurgent. According to him, after one of their wars with the Boko Haram members, he had taken and buried the rifle.

He said he has served at the 58 and 509 Signal Regiments before moving to 143 Battalion in 2014.

The suspect, who said he joined the Nigerian Army in 2005, added: “After our training at Katangura, Niger State, we were deployed to Adamawa State to fight Boko Haram insurgents.

“After engaging the insurgents, we normally retrieve all weapons abandoned by the insurgents.
“That was how I found a pump action rifle abandoned by the insurgents.
“I buried it in the bush.
“In August 2015, I took a three-month sick leave because I sustained an injury from a bomb.
“I took the rifle and one of my Ak47 magazines.
“I was entitled to 10 magazines.
“I took the weapons to my village in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, where I treated myself.
“In December, I came to One-man-Village, Nassarawa State, near Abuja to spend some time with my

sisters.

“I told one of my brothers, Martin Simon, who lives in that area that I had such weapons in my possession.
“After some days, my brother called me and said that he had given my number to someone.
“He said the person would like to speak with me.
“The person called me.
“I was told that there was a N20 million job in a filling station in Abuja.
“I told them that my arms were in my village.
“We brought the arms and were planning how to strike when policemen showed up from nowhere and arrested us.”

 Somolon, who was arrested alongside two others in One-Man-Village in Nassarawa State, close to Abuja, was in possession of an automatic pump action and 30 rounds of 9mm live ammunition loaded and Ak47 magazine.