priest reportedly sets bank ATMs ablaze in Imo

Southern City News reports that an eyewitness, Kingsley Chukwu, said the Anglican Priest was beaten by the enraged mob who gathered at the scene of the incident which happened on Friday.

“Rev. Chukwunyere Ibezim of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Ugiri in Isiala Mbano LGA is cooling off his heels in the police net for breaking into the bank in broad daylight with a gallon of fuel and setting the two installed ATMs on fire.
“On noticing that people would go after him, he smartly ran out of the bank, set his own motorcycle on fire in a bid to scare people away and took to his heels.
“A mob went after him and almost crushed him. It took the intervention of policemen from the Ehime Mbano Divisional Headquarters to save him from being lynched.

“The sum of N100,000 was recovered from him. A new hammer was equally recovered from him. He came on a brand new motorcycle which he later set ablaze also,” Chukwu narrated.

Confirming the incident, Imo State Commissioner of Police in the state, Chris Ezike, said medical checks conducted on the priest by his command revealed that the suspect was a psychiatric patient, who has been taken to a psychiatric home in Enugu State.