A cleric and four others have been arrested by the Police in connection with the last year December bloody robbery raid at Diamond Bank in Akure the Ondo state.
It will be recalled hat during the bank robbery ,four persons were killed and several others sustained various degrees of injuries while millions of naira were said to be carted away by the robbers.
In special operation by the special Anti Robbery Squad[SARS] of Ondo state police Command yesterday ,the police nabbed five persons believed to be members of the robbery gang.
According to the Police First Information Report [ FIR] made available to reporters in Akure, the cleric, an Evangelist , was arrested in a Pentecostal church located along Idanre road in Akure where he was reportedly taking refuge
It was reliably gathered that the Evangelist, who has owned up to the crime ,has been assisting the police in their investigation as a result of which four other suspect were arrested in various location in Ekiti state and Akure.
Police sources disclosed that the Evangelist ,who is also said to bean ex-convict, was understood to have gone to the church to seek God ‘s forgiveness and since then have .refuge in the church.
It was also learnt that at the time the detectives stormed the premises of the church to effect the arrest, General Overseer of the church and the entire congregation were surprise that the Evangelist, whom they all believed to have repented from his evil ways was the brain behind the bloody robbery attack that is still fresh in the minds of those who lost their love ones during the incident.
As the time our reporters visited the SARS office along Oda road in Akure, some officials of the affected bank and victims of the incident who got wind of the arrest of the bandit ,came to catch a glimpse of them.
A police source said the suspect were being withheld since investigations were in top gear to nab fleeing members of the robbery gang.
The police source said the Evangelist was using the church as a hideout for his atrocities.
‘’We exonerated the church of any complicity in the case saying the General Overseers of the church and the congregation were surprise that the Evangelist, whom they believed to have repented for better’’.
The suspect are presently being held at SARS office while an investigation into the matter continues.
The police said that the suspect will be charge to court soon after investigation is concluded.
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