Gone, were the days when the fear of God made worship centres especially churches a no-go area for robbers. In Nigeria, armed robbers now target different worship centres regularly. It would be recalled that in the month of October, 2012 armed robbers attacked the Apostolic Church Mission House in Ijemo-Agbadu area of Abeokuta, Ogun State killing three cops who tried to prevent their escape.
The Catholic Church in Nigeria has had its more than fair share of robbery attacks, about a year ago, a priest, Godwin Okwesili was killed at St. Dominic’s Church in Yaba, and this was followed by another attack by armed robbers at St. Leo’s in Ikeja. In less than three weeks, there was a third attack on another Catholic Church, St. Dominic’s at Oko-Oba in Agege, all in Lagos State. Few days after, men of the underworld stormed yet another Catholic Church in Obudu, Cross River State.
But the worse attacks against churches in Nigeria have been perpetrated by the Boko Haram terrorist group. The Group has bombed churches, maimed and killed Christians for no justifiable reasons. They have even attacked some mosques and killed Muslims in the northern part of the country.
ionigeria.com investigations has shown that invasion of worship centres by criminals is not limited to Nigeria. The phenomenon is also common in the western world. But a group of criminals in Houston, USA got the shocker of their lives on Wednesday when they attempted to steal copper at the West way Baptist Church in Houston.
Whether it was negative karma, divine intervention or just god-awful luck, a couple of would-be thieves learned a painful lesson while trying to rob a Houston church, ABC News reported.
West way Baptist Church is without power after the unidentified men apparently attempted to steal the building’s main electric cable for its copper and set off an explosion.
“Our security alarms went off at 2 a.m. on Wednesday and that’s when our church member Homer Pate notified the Harris County Sheriff’s department of the robbery,” head deacon Michael Kirtley told ABC News.
A surveillance camera caught the incident on tape. The video shows a truck pulling up, followed by one man cutting the wires near the street, possibly attempting to disconnect the main power line.
The video also showed the other man cutting the wires at the breaker box, followed by the explosion. The bolt cutters exploded upon contact with the copper wire.
“The man just blew up into a fire ball,” Kirtley said. “I surely don’t know if he was electrocuted or even alive.”
The church is calling on all local medical facilities to help find the alleged thieves. “If they encounter someone with suspicious burn wounds, we urge them to inform the authorities,” he said.
The church cancelled all of Wednesday night’s activities for lack of power. It also rented a generator in preparation for Sunday services.
Why is it that criminals are no longer scared of worship centres?
According to Yemisi Fadairo, a media consultant in Lagos, "unlike before when there was fear of God, there is no fear of God again". He attributes the lack of fear of God to the proliferation of churches and the flamboyant life style of some of the so called men of God.
"People now believe that most Pastors or men of God are fake and that the motive behind the setting up of many churches is purely pecuniary and not the worship of God and so the criminals go to get their own share of the loot", he added.
Also responding, a Benin City based social commentator, Idemudia Osazuwa said, "by their flamboyant lifestyle and undue focus on prosperity, many pastors have today inadvertently made people to fear God less. Those days, men of God were not loud, the reverse is the case today".
"Also, those days, church doors were hardly locked because armed robbers dare not raid churches because of the fear of God but todays, many pastors cannot move around without armed security", he added.
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