RismadarVoice Reporters, February 20, 2026
Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested a fake military officer and a naval impostor in two separate operations, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Musa Mohammed, confirmed on Friday.
3, 2026, at around 3:00pm, operatives attached to Ekeki Division arrested 25-year-old Kelechi Lazarus, who was dressed in military camouflage and claiming the rank of Corporal. Lazarus allegedly attempted to fraudulently withdraw N200,000 at Ekeki Park, Yenagoa, by showing a fake credit alert to a POS operator.
Mohammed explained that the victim did not receive the transfer alert and insisted on verification at her bank, which confirmed no transaction had occurred. Lazarus then assaulted the victim when she refused to comply with his demands. Police operatives quickly intervened, arresting the suspect and recovering illicit substances in a search.
Investigation revealed that Lazarus had previously defrauded multiple individuals across different states using similar tactics. Verification by the Military Police of 16 Brigade confirmed that Lazarus was a dismissed soldier from the 82 Division, Enugu, in 2024. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation before he will be charged to court.
In a related development, on February 16, 2026, at around 4:50pm, troops of 16 Brigade, Yenagoa, arrested 25-year-old Isah Aliyu Umar at the 16 Brigade Mosque premises. Umar, a resident of Kaduna State originally from Bauchi, had been posing as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Navy across multiple states.
Searches conducted on Umar recovered several falsified documents, a Navy name tag, camouflage and Navy trousers, multiple SIM cards, three National Identity Cards, an Oppo Android phone, a fake DNV Management System certificate, and a fabricated report claiming ownership of seven million dollars by Ganjuwa Gorond Global Enterprise. Umar is currently under investigation at SCID, Yenagoa, and will be charged to court upon conclusion of the probe.
The Police Command, under CP Iyamah Daniel Edebor, urged members of the public to be vigilant against individuals impersonating security personnel and to report any information to the nearest police station.
