Robbers invade church, steal phones, N2m

No fewer than 15 armed robbers invaded the Christ
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.”