Armed robbers masquerade as Evangelists to attack residents

With the yuletide season around the corner, desperate criminals have been devising different means of carrying out their trade. So it was for some armed robbers in Benin, Edo State, who disguised themselves as Evangelists to gain access into private residences, in the guise of preaching the gospel.

But it was a bad day in the office for three of those armed men who were nabbed at Evoutubu, a settlement in the city when they gained access into a block of four flats early in the morning dressed as men of God. They had with them cut-to-size pump action guns which they used to dispossess many tenants of their belongings.

Luck ran out on them when one of the members insisted on raping one of the female occupants of the flats. It was in the process of carrying out their unwholesome activities that one of the occupants to managed to escape and subsequently raise an alarm, which attracted neighbours who pursued and caught them.

According to reports, it took the intervention of policemen from the Evoutubu Police division to stop residents from lynching the criminals as the angry crowd had wanted to set them on fire after they were beaten to a pulp.

The Edo State Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, DSP Noble Uwoh, who confirmed the incident, urged the residents to be wary of persons they allow into their homes in whatever guise, calling on the people of the state to be vigilant and report suspicious characters to the police.