10 nabbed for looting burnt Ondo church

The Ondo State Police Command, on Thursday, said it had arrested no fewer than 10 persons for looting the property of a church, the Sotitobire Praising Chapel, in Akure, which was torched on Wednesday.

The police said the suspects were arrested in connection with stealing of the church property during the violence.

The church was burnt down by irate youths in the Oshinle area of Akure in protest against the disappearance of a one-year-old boy, Gold Kolawole, from the church during a Sunday service last month.


The youth were also aggrieved that the police were allegedly not giving the boy’s disappearance the attention it deserved.

Apart from the church, houses, vehicles and other properties belonging to the religious institution were also burnt by the protesters.

Three people lost their lives in the crisis, including a policeman, whose identity has yet to be revealed.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed to Punch Metro on Thursday that 10 persons had been arrested in connection with the incident.

He said, “We have arrested 10 persons. While the violent crisis was going on, they were busy looting the property of the church. We even recovered some of the church’s property from them.

“Some of them were using vehicles to take the items away when we caught them. We will arrest more of those looters.”