- Devil pushed me into act – Suspect
The operatives of a vigilance group in Oja-Odan, Owode area of Ogun State, have arrested the 65-yearold General Overseer of Word of Victory Evangelical Church, Adebayo Adebiyi, for allegedly stealing the battery of a vehicle kept in his care.
The arrested cleric, who also doubles as a night guard employed by the residents of the area, has already been handed over to the police at Sango for further investigation.
Adebiyi’s arrest followed a complaint against him by a vehicle owner, who alleged that the cleric stole his vehicle battery, when he entrusted it in his care after the vehicle suddenly ran short of fuel in the night.
He, however, pleaded that it was his first time of committing such a crime and that the devil pushed him. “I was employed as a vigilante member to secure lives and property in the area. It was the devil that pushed me into stealing the battery of the vehicle entrusted in my care.
But the devil entered into my heart and turned me against the people I was employed to secure,” he said. He further declared that it was in the course of his routine check that the plan to steal the battery crept into his mind.
He said, “I know that I am a very violent person but not necessarily a thief. On the very day that the devil entered into me, I was patrolling my area at about 12.00 hours when I noticed a stationary vehicle along the street.
I knew that the vehicle was not supposed to be parked there. The curiosity in me led me to carry out a thorough examination of the vehicle.
“On close examination, I noticed that someone was sleeping inside the vehicle. I woke the person up to question him. It soon dawned on me that the face I met was a familiar one.
The man told me that he ran short of fuel and that because it was too late, he decided to relax inside his vehicle.”
The suspect, who spoke with our correspondent from his cell, said that he thereafter told the vehicle owner to go home after promising him that, as the night guard for the area, he would ensure the security of the vehicle.
