Date: 2017-05-28

Some priests and their family were subjected to torment when eight suspected armed robbers invaded the Mission House of the First Baptist Church, Surulere in Ilorin.

According to reports, the robbers invaded the church to wreck havoc on the priests and their families living within the premises on Thursday, May 25, 2017. Priests whose families were attacked by the robbers include Rev. Solomon Gbenjo, Rev. Tunde Ajayi and Rev. Biodun Olatide.

Rev Olagbanjo disclosed that two of the robbers entered his apartment and tied him with a rope while one of the robbers hit him with a belt.

The 60 years old priests said: "They got to our apartment around 2am. They forced the door open. My daughter's room was the first place they visited, my laptop was there with the receipt and the bag.

"Somebody was to come and collect N20,000 from her but unfortunately could not come. That was the first money they grabbed. They also took some of her wristwatches.

"When they had finished robbing her, they asked her to lead them to our bedroom. They asked us to lie face down and ransacked the house. As soon as they came in, they said they had killed one of the gate men. They threatened that if we did not cooperate, they would kill us too.

"They hit me with a belt. That was how the whole thing started. It caught us unaware," he said.

Rev Olagbanjo also explained that they beat up Rev Ajayi's wife and later stole N102,000, laptop, a mobile phone, bag and a flash drive from the Ajayis' apartment.

He further said before the robbers entered his apartment, they had overpowered one of the night guards, attacked him with machete and inflicted severe injuries on his head.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State Command, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the attack and stated that the police had commenced investigation into the robbery.