LAGOS – An Apostolic Church in Alagbado, Lagos State, was reportedly invaded by about 15 Armed robbers on Friday. The robbers were said to have rapped some church members,stole 40 phones and money estimated at N2m.
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 r**e 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.