Six security personnel employed by a private security firm and stationed at the Rivers headquarters of Winners Chapel Church, located on Kaduna Street, D-line, Port Harcourt, have been apprehended by local authorities on suspicion of stealing and attempting to sell valuable church property.
The suspects, who were part of the security detail responsible for safeguarding the church’s premises, were intercepted by members of the PHALGA Security Watch while in the act of transporting heavy iron rods and other valuable items belonging to the church to an undisclosed location within D-Line, with the intent to sell them.
According to Victor Ohaji, Chairman of PHALGA Security Watch, he received intelligence around 1am on Sunday indicating that the church’s security guards were loading the stolen items onto a truck for transportation.
Ohaji and his team swiftly responded, trailing the guards to the site where they were about to finalize the sale of the stolen goods.
Although the prospective buyers fled upon realizing the situation, Ohaji and his team managed to apprehend the six security guards and successfully recover the stolen property.
In a separate incident occurring at approximately 3am on Sunday, the vigilante group also arrested an individual named Mr. Chigbo for vandalizing a truck owned by the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA), parked near a church on the IKoku axis of Ikwerre Road.
Chijioke Ani, the driver of the RIWAMA truck, disclosed that he had left the vehicle parked due to depleted fuel.
However, upon his return, he discovered that the truck’s compacting component had been vandalized.
Thanks to information from local residents, Ani was informed that Mr. Chigbo had been apprehended by the PHALGA Security Watch.
Ani subsequently reported the incident to Mile 1 Police Division, where Mr. Chigbo was being held.
Upon being alerted by Victor Ohaji, officers from Olu-Obasanjo Police Division arrived at the scene and took custody of the six church security guards.
The Rivers State Police Command confirmed the arrest, with spokesperson SP Grace Koko stating that five security guards were involved in the criminal activity.
SP Koko revealed that the suspects had been involved in the illegal sale of iron rods and had been apprehended during an attempt to conduct another sale in the early hours of Sunday, thanks to the vigilante group’s intervention.
The Rivers State Police Command is currently conducting an ongoing investigation into the matter.
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