Elements of the Kumba Central Police Station with Commissioner Wilson Elong Njumenjikang following instructions from the Senior State Counsel of Meme, Justice Batuo Paul Akong, are currently interrogating 28 -year -old, Arrey Tambe Napoleon, a.k.a McBrown who hails from Kembong, in Manyu Division, South west Region and claims to be a nephew of the retired General, Chief Tataw James.Arrey Tambe was nabbed for attempting to dupe a man of God in broad day light.
According to Commissioner Wilson Elong Njumenjikang, Arrey Tambe Napoleon had long been dismissed from the military, but still goes around in military uniform, looting millions from people in and around Kumba, threatening to send them into ENAM and other higher professional institutions in Cameroon.
He disclosed to the press that, the fake soldier is also a member of a gang of robbers who have been terrorizing the people of Meme Division and beyond.
According to the Commissioner, Tambe Napoleon has been taking refuge in an inn in Mbalangi, a village along the Kumba-Buea highways, from where he leaves daily to Kumba, Muyuka and even Limbe for operations.
Their last operation His last operation was in a Paradise Baptist church in Fiango, where he attempted to dupe Pastor Uboh Rene “prophet” in Fiango Kumba, by requesting the Pastor to pray and deliver him since his “palms are hollow” giving that money never stays in his hands.
The impostor told the Man of God that apart from being a soldier, he also helps for the recruitment of young boys and girls into the military, gendarmes, police and customs.
After preaching and praying for him, he went ahead to tell the pastor that, he has another problem with the BICEC bank which has hindered him from effecting any withdrawal and that he needed FCFA 35,000, to settle the bills of some of his workers in Buea.
Pastor Uboh gave him FCFA 40,000, which was even more than what he requested. On his part, Pastor Uboh said after this gesture, he prayed and God revealed to him that the soldier was a fake.
He said after a few days, the impostor came back to him, this time saying that, the mother who happens to live in USA, is very impressed with his deliverance and would want to send Pastor Uboh some money to show appreciation and that she needed the bank account number of the pastor in order to facilitate the financial transaction.
He added that, he will like to have four of his members recruited into the army, gendarmes and police and that, they have to give a token of FCFA 25,000 each. The Pastor then asked him to go and come over the weekend and collect the money.
As he suspected his actions, he immediately reported the incident to the police, who have long been carrying out their investigation on him. He was then arrested and upon interrogation, it was discovered that, before he was dismissed from the military, he was just a simple soldier and not even a surgeon.
The Commissioner said, when asked where he got the uniform he usually puts on; he said he collected it from a friend who is a student in a military school in Muyuka. “But we believe he must have stolen the uniforms because there is no such schools in Muyuka” observers revealed.
After his arrest, a search was conducted at the inn in Mbalangi and so many receipts of money collected from Express Exchange was discovered there, indicating that they are the receipts of money collected from his victims, the commissioner noted.
With this swift reaction from the elements of the Kumba Central Police Station, the Commissioner cautioned the people of Kumba “I want to use this opportunity to appreciate the efforts and support of the entire residents of Kumba and my colleagues to ensure that peace and serenity is forestalled in Kumba. I call on them to redouble their efforts so that the peace will continue to reign.
I promise them that, the other culprits of Arrey Tambe Napoleon will be brought to book in no distant time.”
Meanwhile, in a related development another fake soldier dressed in BIR uniform and whose name we got as Otu Avictus Okpa has also been arrested over the weekend at Big Nganjo in Mbonge sub division, but escaped and is still at large.
However, the administration and police have launched a manhunt to track him down.