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Armed bandits stormed a new generation church in Benin City, where they raped seven women at a night vigil programme.
Reports said the bandits invaded the church located at 2nd Cemetery Road, at about 4am on Thursday.
The masked armed robbers, numbering six, shot sporadically, ordering the members to go back inside the church shortly after they said the final prayers to depart.
They eportedly rained bullets on the roof and ordered members to lie down while they consequently molested the women.
One of the victims, who narrated her ordeal to Vanguard, said:
“Though I was not molested, I was beaten mercilessly when they were asking us to identify the pastor and we refused. After collecting our phones, money and jewelleries, they ordered some of the ladies to undress. They threatened to kill them if they refused and, of course, they removed their clothes and were molested one by one.
“It was actually two churches that they attacked. They molested five women in our church. Later, we found out that they molested two others in a church close to ours. They ransacked the church and collected any cash they found and escaped. It was a horrible sight”.
It was gathered that the robbers had earlier raided a building near Ewuotubu community where they robbed some tenants living in four different flats in the compound. It was said that two persons, including a police officer, were shot dead while others sustained various degrees of injuries in the process.