Catholic Priest Arrested For Possession Of Fire Arms!! [PHOTO]

A Catholic priest in Imo State is being
investigated by the police in the state over
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 allegedly
threatened the lives of his parishioners.
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.
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.
The controversy surrounding the catholic
priest, according to a police source, 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 have
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.
The source told Vanguard that 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.

Following his open accusation, 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 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.
Investigation into the case is ongoing by the police to ascertain the source of the guns
found at the residence of the controversial
priest, and possibly what they are being used
for.