Sampson Itode and Dennis Naku, Port Harcourt The police in Rivers State have arrested three suspects who allegedly detonated explosi...
Sampson Itode and
Dennis Naku, Port Harcourt
The police in Rivers State have arrested three suspects who
allegedly detonated explosives at a Pentecostal church, Christain Universal
Church International, located at Mile 3, Diobu area of Port Harcourt.
The church is said to be owned by the father of Rivers State
Governor, Nyesom Wike.
It was learnt that the suspects numbering about five
attacked the church around 8 pm on Saturday.
It was gathered that the gunmen’s escape plan was blocked
after men of a local security outfit in the area noticed strange movements and
swooped in.
The Assistant Chief Security Officer of the Azikiwe Street
Security, Collins Johnbull, while narrating the incident, said one of his men
was hit by a bullet in the process of chasing the suspects and currently
receiving treatment in the hospital.
Johnbull said, “On Saturday, 28th day of November, 2020,
while I was on my duty post, we observed some movements around 8 pm to 9 pm and
we were on the alert, before then we saw some strange faces, about five of
them, that entered into the governor’s father’s church and we thought they were
church members having their normal evening programme, but we were suspicious of
them because of the way they were moving.
“About five minutes after the boys entered the church, there
was an explosion, we heard a banging noise like that of a bomb from the church
and we immediately approached the church and saw them (the suspects) jumping
out of the church wearing masks and carrying guns and started shooting at my
men.
“By God’s grace, we were able to apprehend three of the
criminals that attacked the church, while two escaped. We did everything in our
power to apprehend the hoodlums, as we are talking now, one of my men who was
hit by a bullet is receiving treatment.”
Another member of the security team, Uche Brown, who corroborated
the story said the three suspects have been taken into custody by the police.
“Around 8.43 pm, some hoodlums who attacked the state
governor’s father’s church at Azikiwe street tried to bring down the building
by throwing dynamites into it but (they) did not succeed.
“When they noticed that the security men were approaching
them, they tried to escape and we apprehended three of them, while two escaped,
before the arrival of the police who took them into custody.”
The PUNCH correspondent who visited the area observed that
security had been beefed up to forestall further breach of peace.
The spokesman for the State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni,
confirmed the incident to one of our correspondents at the scene of the
incident.
Omoni said the three persons arrested in connection with the
incident are helping the police with the investigation.
He explained that the police anti-bomb unit had earlier
arrived at the scene.
He said, “I can confirm the attack on the church and three
suspects arrested in connection with the attack.
“They are helping us in our investigation. The church has
been swept by the Bomb Department.”
No comments