on December 07, 2013
By Ikenna Anyanwu
Police
authorities in Imo State are investigating a Roman Catholic priest (names
withheld ) for unlawful possession of firearms. The priest, said to be
in-charge of one of the prominent Parishes in Dikenafai, Ideato South Local
Government area, Imo State, was arrested for allegedly being in possession of
three unlicensed guns with which he threatened the lives of his parishioners.
ARMS
Crime Guard reliably gathered that the guns which include one
pump action riffle, one double- barrelled gun and a locally -made pistol
allegedly belonging to the priest were recovered from his official residence by
operatives of Special Armed Robbery Squad, SARS, Imo State Police Command
acting on a tip off from concerned parishioners.
Described as a very controversial
priest, the reverend father was arrested and detained briefly but granted bail
by the police following the intervention of some influential religious and
political leaders in the state.
Police sources intimated that the
controversy surrounding the catholic priest stemmed from a tragedy that
occurred in January 2010 , after the death of a prominent indigene of the
area. The resident priest was said to had raised issues over the
burial ceremony which inflamed the natives and they had to lodge formal
complaints to the Bishop of the area over the way the priest was allegedly
calling people names while conducting services.
According to the source, the matter
became worse after armed robbers reportedly attacked the priest in his official
residence and he openly accused some prominent citizens of the area of
masterminding the robbery.
This, the source continued, made
some of them to write a petition to the Commissioner of Police in Imo State
accusing the priest of threatening their lives with dangerous
weapons. The Police boss swiftly acted on the petition and sent
detectives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, to the residence of the
priest where some weapons were allegedly recovered.
Meanwhile, investigation into the
case is ongoing by the police to ascertain the source of the guns and possibly
the actual purposes they are being used for. It is believed
that the matter will be charged to court after full police investigation had
been concluded.
It would be recalled that the police
in Imo State under the present Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina had
in recent times made remarkable breakthrough in impounding illegal arms and
ammunition used by criminal gangs in the state. The latest arrest
of a priest marks a new twist in the war against crime in the state,
particularly the illegal use of firearms
