Items worth millions of naira have been stolen by armed robbers who invaded the priest’s house of the Saint Barnabas Cathedral, Anglican Communion located at Sabo Oke in Ilorin, Kwara state.
NigeriaCrime.com learned that the two-man armed robbery gang on a motorcycle stormed the priest’s house at about 2:30 am, they forcefully pulled the main gate of the two-storey house down, moved up and broke the two doors.
According to the victim, Reverend Isaiah Ibikunle Afolayan, the hoodlums, armed with sharp objects, broke into his apartment, located on the top floor of the two-storey building, threatening to kill his family members if they refused to cooperate with them.
He also said that his laptop system; a fairly used MacBook Pro, worth N1.3 million, a TV set and his phone were stolen.
“We were sleeping when we suddenly saw him (one of the armed robbers) standing in our room with a sharp object in his hand. He was threatening to kill us if we make any noise and asking us to face down. I refused with a dialogue asking him, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”. He then picked up my system and ran away”, the cleric said.
Reverend Afolayan, who appeared disturbed by the incident, also said that “With what we have seen so far they are more than one but only one came into our bedroom with a sharp object in his hand threatening to kill us.
“He sighted the MacBook laptop and was able to grab it and ran out and I followed but hit me back with the door gate to escape. As he ran out of the apartment, he fell along the way. This morning we are able to get a necklace where he fell and the case has been reported to the police officials”.
A community leader in Sabo Oke community leaders, Pastor Taiwo Ajibola, said that the robbers, who came on motorcycles, were sighted by local security men in the community who, he said, flashed torchlight at them.
He said that the robbery case has been reported at the ‘A’ Division police station, Ilorin, adding that one Police operative had come to inspect the place.
It would be recalled that Sabo-Oke Ilupeju community in the Ilorin East local government area of Kwara state had recently called for the provision of a security outpost in the community, as part of measures to address security challenges facing the community.