Army corporal arrested over serial killing, armed robbery

A lance corporal with the Nigerian Army, Shedrack Christopher, has been arrested in Lagos for alleged serial killing and armed robbery that the police said he committed in Lagos and Edo states. The police alleged that Christopher, said to be a member of the dreaded Eiye confraternity, had been on the police wanted list over […]

A lance corporal with the Nigerian Army, Shedrack Christopher, has been arrested in Lagos for alleged serial killing and armed robbery that the police said he committed in Lagos and Edo states.

The police alleged that Christopher, said to be a member of the dreaded Eiye confraternity, had been on the police wanted list over allegations that included murder.

The police said the suspect was arrested in a hotel at Ketu, Lagos, where he had lodged. When the police searched his car, they allegedly found his Army camouflage hidden in it.

At the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, where Christopher was paraded with some other suspects, he identified himself before journalists as a lance corporal attached to the 55 Army Signal Corps, Arakan Barracks, Lagos.

He also claimed that he had been deployed in Maiduguri, Bornu State, but came to Lagos in December 2018 to engage in the smuggling of frozen poultry products to augment his income, which, according to him, was not enough to take care of his family.

Recovered from the suspect were three android phones, which the police said he stole in the hotel where he lodged.

Christopher said, “I go to Cotonou, Benin Republic, to buy turkey to supply some dealers in Lagos. On the day I was arrested I had an appointment with a lady friend whom I met in one of those my numerous trips to Seme border, Badagry. She asked me to meet her in a hotel at the Ketu area of Ijanikin. I got to the hotel around 11pm. We had some drinks in the bar before we retired into our hotel room. Before we left the bar, I saw three phones on the table and there was nobody there so I informed the security man attached to the hotel. I was keeping the phones for the owner. I was arrested the following day and the police said I stole the phones.

“The police also said I was among the cultists that recently killed many people in Mile 2, Lagos and in Benin in Edo State. Well, I agreed because the police were beating me. I am a soldier who is on AWOL from Maiduguri. I collected the axe that was recovered from me from a cultist at Mile 2. I saw them fighting and I collected the axe from him. I also collected the cutlass from some hoodlums at Alaba Rago, but I came to Lagos with the dagger that was found on me.”

The state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, who paraded Christopher, said the suspect claimed to be a soldier as he was arrested with military accoutrements and identification.

“I can’t say unequivocally that he is a soldier. We have written to the Army and we are still expecting their reply, which is very necessary to ascertain the true position of his status,” Muazu said.