A suspected church robber, Ehiosun Junior, has been nabbed and arraigned for attempting to steal the money realised from a church’s annual thanksgiving service in Edo State.
Junior was arraigned on a four-count charge and pleaded not guilty to the charges according to The Nation.
The pastor in charge of the church, Christ Apostolic Church, Rev. Igbinigie Anthony, told an Egor Chief Magistrate Court, at the resumed hearing of the case, that the alleged thief had broken into the church twice previously and stole N52, 000.
The cleric told the court that he had a premonition that the thief would return to steal the thanksgiving collections, so he and the church’s Youth President, who was simply identified as Okoh, decided to sleep in the church that day.
He said: “The first time the suspect broke into the church, he stole N40,000, but I asked the church to pray to God to forgive the thief.
“On the 12th, they came back through the same place and stole N9,000 and other offering money. On the 23rd, 12 cans of malt were stolen.
“After our thanksgiving on the 30th, I knew the thief will come back because we kept all the monies and items realized inside the church. At about 11:45 pm, I saw a shadow because we switched off all the lights in the church.
“I pointed a torch at the person and he ran away towards the direction of the Youth President who caught him. The accused said he was the only one and we called the police who took him away to Okhoro Police Station.”
The cleric told the court that they discovered that the accused was present at the church thanksgiving and was served food and drinks.
The case was adjourned for further hearing until Monday, August 17, 2015.
