A group of robbers who raided the home of a journalist could not muster the courage to steal church funds, preferring, instead, to make do with only the money belonging to the man whose house they robbed.

The robbers had last Sunday raided the home of an Umuahia-based senior journalist and made away with an undisclosed sum of his personal money but left the church fund in his custody intact.

Jinanwa Azubike, Chief Information Officer, Government House, told Transport & Business Express that he and members of his family had left for Sunday Service at the Umuagu headquarters of the Behold He Cometh Pentecostal Church behind the State Criminals and Investigation Department only to return to behold their ransacked home at the high-brow Ehinmiri Housing Estate.

The reticent journalist said he became curious and suspicious when he saw his wife’s handbag as well as a bag he has not used for long littering the floor.

“A closer examination revealed broken ceilings leading into our rooms which were turned upside-down. The thieves, I suspect, were looking for money because they did not remove any property. They made away with my money but the church fund in my custody which I tagged according to their sources was left intact,” he said.

The founder of the church is believed to be a powerful man of God whose curse would have hunted the robbers all the days of their lives, many residents in Umuahia said.

It is suspected that the robbers gained entrance into the journalist’s residence from the rear where his dogs could not gain access.

Neighbours and colleagues who reacted to the incident described it as unfortunate. They called on the police to step up their surveillance in the estate which also houses the Zone 9 Police headquarters and urged residents to be vigilant about events in their neighbourhood.

*Photo shows Police IG, MD Abubakar