A Benin City pastor, Abel Eku, has been arrested for allegedly attempting to bomb the headquarters of his church, the Christ Chosen Church of God.
Abel, who claimed to have served the church for 25 years, allegedly planted explosives in the church auditorium on January 22, the day the church was to hold an international conference.
The explosives were detected and policemen invited to defuse them.
Men of the Edo State Police Command nabbed the cleric on March 7 and he confessed to have manufactured the explosives and planted them.
Addressing reporters during a parade at the police headquarters, Abel said he planted the bomb because he was bitter about his dismissal from the church over marital issues.
He said he did it out of annoyance, but later regretted his action, which made him to call the church officials about the location of the bomb.
The clergyman said the bomb was not meant to kill, but to scare members.
He said: “It was out of annoyance that I planted the bomb. I was dismissed from the church after serving for 25 years. After planting the bomb, I was not happy. I had a change of heart and called people. It was to scare them. I called people to defuse it.
“I am 57 years old. I had issues with my wife. We came to church to resolve them and the efforts were not successful. It led to my dismissal. I was bitter about this. I don’t have intention of killing people. My action is very bad.”
On how he was made a pastor, Abel said his parents offered him to the church as a first fruit because of inability to have children.
“I was given to the church as a first issue. My parents were married for years without a child. So, they vowed at the altar that any first child God gave them would be given to the church. That was how they gave me to the church.”
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