By Wisdom Patrick, Lagos
Three persons have been arrested by the Enugu State police command for allegedly robbing a parish priest of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Ugboezeji Abakpa in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The suspects identified as Echezona Goodluck, Nwode Obinna and Onyeka Nnaji, were said to have robbed one Rev. Fr. Dan Nwafor Ani at the parish.
According to report, they invaded the residence of the priest who was resting on his bed, stripped him off his shirt and used it to tie his hands and mouth. After which, they carted away a huge sum of money which the church realized from an event.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the Enugu State Police Command, Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the arrest, revealed that the key suspect, Nwode Obinna who is a member of the church convinced his other two accomplices to join him in robbing the Reverend Father, after he heard that the church made a lot of money from a recent event.
One of the suspects, Onyeka Nnaji provided the locally made guns which they used for the robbery which took place on last November 4, at about 10 p.m.
When report of the robbery got to the police, commissioner of police Abubakar Adamu Mohammed quickly mobilized operatives of the distress call base of the command. The operatives trailed the hoodlums who tried to resist by firing shots, but the operatives made sure that the hoodlums submitted to their superior fire power, thereby arresting them and recovering the money as well as arms.
“One of the suspects, Echezona is begging for forgiveness, claiming that it was bad company that led him into the mess, while he also advised that youths should shun crime and criminality.
Another suspect, Onyeka Nnaji, said it was not his intention to commit the crime but frustrations compelled him to. He pleaded that the priest should beg God to forgive him.
However, the priest thanked God for not allowing the boys to shoot him and also thanked the police for their prompt intervention which led to the arrests and recoveries”.
