Armed robbers in the early hours of Saturday besieged churches in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during vigil, carting away valuables and churches’ offerings worth millions of naira.
Most of the affected churches were located along Fabio area of the state capital and Ondo road area where the churches were observing end of the month vigil.
According to a source, the robbers spent hours in carrying out the operation, moving from one church to the other without any hindrance, while they also took time to share their loots among the group before leaving each church.
The source states that some members of the churches tried to alert the security operatives in the area and the police control room of the state police command but said there was no response from the command.
The armed men reportedly operated between 1:00a.m and 4:00a.m on the fateful day, he added.
One of the victims of the robbery incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Metro that four members of the robbery gang attacked her church members and stole all they had, including the offering collected from members and some valuables.
She explained that the hoodlums robbed about five churches before they arrived in her church, explaining that the four robbers who entered her church were armed with guns, machetes, iron rods and big sticks.
She said the armed men descended on members of the church, beating those who failed to comply with their order, saying most of them were still receiving treatment in private hospitals in the town
She said, “After finishing our vigil at about 3am on Saturday, all of us were going home when some armed men met us on the road. They told us they were members of the vigilante in the area and they asked us to go back to the church.
“They followed us to the church. On entering the church with us, they locked the door from inside. One of them brought out a pistol and asked all of us to lie down and face the ground. They collected everything on us, especially our phones and money.
“As we faced down, we heard them sharing the money they had stolen from other churches they had robbed earlier. From their conversation, we discovered that they must have attacked no fewer than five churches before getting to us.”
The victim added that the robbers fled through the window when they heard that policemen were around the area. She said they removed the SIM cards from their phones and dropped them in the church before taking to their heels.
It was gathered that 15 minutes after the departure of the hoodlums, men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) arrived the area. The SARS men were said to have recovered a gun and a mobile telephone dropped by the robbers at the scene of the incident.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of state police command, Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and said the command had commenced investigation.
Joseph said: “We have take action on the incident; we have deployed our surveillance in that area and very soon, we shall arrest the hoodlums.”