Suspected Armed Robber Pastor Says He Needs Money for Expand Church
A Pastor and two other persons, who specialized in hijacking and diverting trucks transporting goods within Lagos and Ogun states axis of the South West Nigeria, have been arrested by operatives of Federal Anti-robbery Squad (FEDSARS), after a tip-off.
It was gathered that a gang of armed robbers had hijacked a 25-ft container bearing 25units of heavy duty outdoor split air conditioners worth over N25m, along the Papa/Shagamu road in Ewekoro, Ogun State, before the “good Nigerian” contacted the law enforcement agents.
They were later arrested at their respective homes when the FEDSARS men were able to trace one of the robbers to his base in Ijora, after they had successfully hijacked the goods and transported it to their warehouse in Ibadan. The fourth man, one Oliver is however still on the run.
No fewer than 22 units of the air-conditioners have so far been recovered, while two are still missing and another badly damaged.
One of the suspects, who claims he is a Pastor aged 56, narrated why he partook in the operation; “My name is Peter Iyesele, 56-year-old, I am married and I have four children. I am a pastor and I have a church along Badagry expressway.
“I was arrested at Igando bus-stop for participating in hijacking and diversion of goods worth over N25 million. I have been engaging in these operations for years but after a while I stopped and invested proceeds from the operations in transportation.
“For about nine years, I didn’t participate in any of these operations because I had made enough from the operations until I received a call from God to serve him. I was doing well in my transportation business before a woman swindled me.
“The reason I went back into robbing was to get money to expand the church of God where I pastor. If I had succeeded, I would have used the proceeds to build a house for God.”
The three men have been charged to court while police are still making efforts to track down the fleeing Oliver.