Apostolic Church in Alagbado, Lagos State, stealing
about 40 phones and money estimated at N2m.
The robbers, who operated for about 20 minutes, were
said to have also attempted raping some of the church
members before they left the church premises.
It was learnt that the men came around 2am penultimate
Friday while the over 450 congregation was engrossed in
a prayer session.
A member of the church, who craved anonymity, said
some of the members had observed a strange man
making phone calls while the vigil was on.
He said, "The vigil actually started around 12 midnight.
Some of us observed a man who came in around
1.30am. He was seated in the women's section. About
four persons tried persuading him to change seat,
including the pastor, but he refused. So they left him.
"I observed him going out several times to make phone
calls. At about 2am, I overheard him saying, 'start
coming, they are praying'. Few minutes later, I heard a
gunshot."
The head usher of the church was said to have been shot
at close range, when he tried closing the door against
the robbers, who he originally thought were arriving late
for the programme.
The bullet was said to have shattered the glass at the
entrance, and landed on the pulpit.
When the gun men got in, the church members were
said to have been ordered to lie face down, while they
started ransacking them.
One of the church leaders said, "They positioned
themselves at the church's major entrances. They
collected money, phones and recharge cards. They
started shouting, 'where is your pastor?' They took the
church offering and wanted to rape some of our women.
In the 20 years of my being in the ministry, I have never
seen such effrontery before."
Our correspondent gathered that the robbers, however,
did not know that there were two other exit doors in the
church.
The pastor was said to have sneaked out through the
exit and dodged behind a window, where he viewed
everything going on.
It was learnt that the gang leader, who wore a mask,
suddenly became angry and started arguing with a
member of the gang over a phone that was snatched
from one of the church members.
The source said, "It must have been God working at that
point. During the argument, this young man suddenly
pulled off his mask and started fighting the other robber.
They had a heated argument over a phone they had just
snatched without knowing that the pastor was looking at
them."
PUNCH Metro gathered that the pastor of the church
alerted the police who arrived at the scene just after the
robbers left.
An elder in the church told our correspondent that the
members of the church, however, held on to the stranger
in the church who appeared to have been the robbers'
informant.
He said, "Apart from me, there were three other people
who saw him. A particular member of the church even
told us that he was the one who grabbed her phone while
the robbers were stealing items. He wanted to follow the
robbers when they were escaping, but we held him till
the police arrived."
He was handed over to the Ojokoro Police Division for
interrogation. He was said to have aided the police in
apprehending the other robbers.
Our correspondent gathered from residents of the area
that the same gang of robbers had been terrorising the
area for a long time.
A resident, who did not want his name mentioned for
security purpose said, "After they left CAC that day, they
robbed in about eight other streets – Baruwa, Tebun
Fagbemi, Sunday Fadipe, Idowu Oya, Ayobola, Balogun,
Alhaji SL and Taibat Banire Estate."
Investigations by PUNCH Metro revealed that the gang
leader, who led the church operation and angrily pulled
off his mask, was the son of a traditional ruler.
Our correspondent gathered that the young man,
identified simply as Ade, had been arrested, but there
had been high-powered influences seeking his release
from police custody.
The pastor of the church, who identified him, was said to
be under pressure to withdraw his incriminating
statement from the police.
The residents said they were apprehensive as the state
command's authorities had withdrawn the matter from
the police team originally handling it at the Special Anti-
Robbery Squad.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the matter was being
investigated at SARS.
Braide said, "The incident took place around 2am and
some people were arrested around 4am. The matter is
currently under investigation and the suspects, including
the son of the traditional ruler, are in police custody.
"It will, however, be unreasonable for anyone to be
apprehensive and insinuate things against the the
command's authorities in a case in which they have no
interest. Justice is what we stand for and justice is what
we are going to do in this matter."
Source: Punch Ng
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.
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