Kumba, Meme Division:

Four Arrested for Attempting to Steal Church Offerings

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Four persons have been arrested in Kumba for attempting to make away with the sum of FCFA 25 million raised by Christians of Presbyterian Church Kumba-Mbeng in Kumba, Chief Town of Meme Division in the South west Region.

                The four were arrested during the church service and 2018 harvest thanks giving ceremony thanks to the intelligence and timely intervention of forces of law and order that were brought in to secure the church premise on Sunday 4 November, 2018.

                A Christian of the church narrated to The Median that at about 7am when service was going on in the church, some five men of the underworld disguised as Christians had positioned themselves at strategic locations within and outside the church premises without the knowledge of any Christian.

                She added that some of the bandits were positioned on strategic locations with a standby motorbike that will ease their escape after they must have carried out their robbery. She recounted how one of the bandits who pretended to be a church member walked up to where the offertory of the day was kept while the harvest thanksgiving was ongoing.

                There, bandit saw some money but didn’t immediately take them. He questioned those he met at the vestry on few issues and asked if all was moving well with the conduct and count of the harvest thanksgivings before stepping out.

                All this was done with the presence of armed security officers in the church premises. The security officers were alerted when one of the bandits forcefully confiscated the phone of a Christian and attempted to flee with it.

                An alarm was then raised by the Christian and many others that attracted the attention of the security elements. It was at this point that church members and security officers knew of the presence of bandits.

                A crackdown was immediately launched without any gunshot which would have scared the Christians and four of the bandits were arrested. Our source revealed that one of the bandits who reportedly had a gun narrowly escaped the arrest.

                One of the four arrested was identified by the parish pastor, Rev. Saibou Lamson, as the son of one church member who lives just behind the church premises. Surprised by the act, the congregational chairman cautioned that no one should attempt attacking any church member and or the pastor after the church service as the money had already been taken to where it was supposed to be kept.

                The act left many panic-stricken in the church with church elders reportedly forced to lay on the floor for fear of the unknown.