ROBBERS RAID CHURCH AS PASTOR HID HIMSELF...

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.”