Armed robbers have invaded a church, named the New Life Gospel Church at Sariki-Noma, a suburb of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, and carted away an unspecified sum of money, phones and church property.

It was learnt that the gunmen, who came in numbers, attacked the church when its elders converged to hold night prayers.

Confirming the incident, the resident Pastor of New Life Gospel Church, Sarikinoma, Pastor Olorunfemi Ojo, said they noticed that three unknown men were trying to force their way into Victory Primary School beside the church and were confronted before they left.

Explaining further, Pastor Ojo said, “shortly after, some unknown men numbering up to about fifteen of them alongside the three that had come earlier invaded the Church by destroying the windows and forcing their way into the church building, hitting them with planks, broken bottles, and stones, hurting the elderly men before they ran for their lives.

“Two of the church elders sustained several degrees of injury and have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment”.

Pastor Femi Ojo said that the attackers, after unleashing their mayhem, went away with some of the church properties, collected phones, and cash, leaving the church building with broken bottles, stones, and planks and in shambles

The cleric noted that while they scampered for safety, he went to the road to seek help from the vigilante in the area but was told that they had just gone on a patrol.

“The men were later caught by vigilantes as they tried to carry out another round of robbery in the area. Some of the perpetrators have been nabbed while others are at large,” he added.

Pastor Femi Ojo, who appreciated the vigilante group, told Daily Post that the police had been contacted and had come to see the level of damage in the church.

The cleric, however, thanked the police for their prompt intervention while urging them to intensify efforts to bring the perpetrators to book.

When contacted, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, said his office has not been briefed about the incident by the Nigeria Police B division in Lokoja.

He, however, promised to revert to Newsmen when he obtained information about the incident. CONTINUE READING…