Holy Thief: How pastor robbed widow during husband's funeral in Akwa Ibom

A man of God has been nabbed fore robbing a widow during her husband's funeral.

Apostle Nsikak Etim, the Founder and General Overseer of City of Reality Christian Centre, located at Ediene Ikot Obio Imo in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has been arrested after he was fingered in robbing a woman whose husband had just been buried, of cash amounting to over N600,000, two cell phones, a cheque book and ATM card belonging to the deceased, and a briefcase containing the late deceased documents, which was handed over to the woman’s son for safe keeping..

It was gathered that the pastor who hails from Enen Atai, Itu Local Government Area, had attended the burial held at Ituk Mbag in Uruan Local Government Area of the state uninvited, but as man of God, he was welcomed by the family of the late man, not knowing he had come with another mission; to steal and to rob.

While at the funeral, Apostle Etim, a father of one, carefully monitored the widow as she received sympathizers as they gave her one gift or the other and at the end of the day, he swooped in and stole the bag that contained the money and the other items.

It was learnt that after stealing the bag, the pastor immediately used the stolen cash to acquire a land in Uyo, emptied the account of the late man with  the ATM card and handed over the dead man's phones to his wife while keeping the other belonging to the woman, for himself.

But nemesis was to soon catch up with the criminal pastor as he was tracked down by the Department of State Services (DSS), through the stolen phones and was arrested while conducting a church service at his church.

During interrogation, Apostle Etim admitted to his crime, blaming the devil for his actions.

“Please don’t send me to jail. The devil is trying to rubbish my ministry. Please do not involve my wife in this, she is innocent.

I did not tell her where I got the phone from. I don’t want our child to grow up without a father, please have mercy upon me,” he pleaded with the police.

He also promised to return the plot of land he bought with the stolen money to the widow as well as refund all the money he siphoned from his victim's bank account.