The Policemen attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Imo
State Police Command have arrested the founder of Jesus The Rock of
Salvation Healing Ministry, Uratta, in the Owerri North Local Government
Area of the state, Pastor Chiedozie Anochima, in connection with the
February 22, 2017, robbery in a bank.
The attack on the Wetheral
Road branch of Zenith Bank in Owerri, the state capital, left two
policemen dead, with another injured, while one of the armed robbers was
gunned down during the operation.
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The
police, who had since rounded up the fleeing members of the gang, said
the arrest of the cleric during a church service last Sunday was a major
breakthrough in the investigation of the crime.
A police source
said on Wednesday that the arrest of the last member of the gang,
Chinonso Onwugbuchlam, one year after the incident, helped the police to
arrest the pastor.
The source disclosed that it was in the
course of interrogation that Onwugbuchlam, who was arrested by F-SARS
operatives in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, mentioned the pastor’s name.
He
said, “Onwugbuchulam named one Pastor Chiedozie Anochima as one of
them. The pastor is 36 years old and he is the founder of Jesus The Rock
of Salvation Healing Ministry, a church in Urratta, in the Owerri North
LGA.”
The source told PUNCH Metro that Onwugbuchulam confessed
that the pastor kept the gang’s rifles after operations and prayed for
them for protection.
“Onwuegbuchulam led the F-SARS operatives to
his church where we arrested him during a church service. The pastor
was surprised to see us. We swooped on him and arrested him immediately.
That was last Sunday,”the source said.
The state Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, said the arrest of the cleric was a big breakthrough for the command.
He
said, “Yes, it is true. We have arrested the pastor and he is with us.
You know that criminal investigation is like kerosene; it spreads. The
more you investigate a crime, the more it spreads.
“We are
working harder to make sure that all those involved in the bank robbery
at Zenith Bank in 2017, do not escape justice. We will parade the pastor
before newsmen very soon.”
Our correspondent gathered that the
arrest of the pastor, which caused a stir during the church service,
made members of his church to flee.