A 10-year-old girl has undergone surgery while other members of Heaven Embassy Chapel are nursing their injuries after armed robbers stormed the church, fired a shot into the congregation, held them hostage for about thirty minutes, and robbed them of their belongings.
According to Adomonline.com, the incident happened at Atwima Afrancho on Good Friday, April 15, when worshippers were marking the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
About seventy congregants, who were mostly made up of indigenes of the area and others who visited the church for the first time on that fateful day, were tortured while lying on the floor as instructed by the four bandits.
Narrating the traumatic encounter, Prophet Bernard Appiah Fobi, one of the preachers invited to the event, said the whole incident was unimaginable.
“All we heard was an order for the lights to be put off. On the third command, they shot into the congregation. The shots fired injured some children here but we didn’t know. One of the robbers started walking through the church auditorium, taking money and phones of congregants” he said as quoted by Adomonline.com.
“A pregnant woman and her husband were beaten mercilessly. An old man was also beaten because he could give them just 10 cedis,” the man of God added.
It is reported that the church is situated on the outskirts of the community, and that part of the buildings is still under construction.
Maame Ama, a ten-year-old who was shot in her two legs, has undergone surgey.
“Her leg got broken, a bullet went through the leg. It was very dangerous. It took us a lot of courage to carry her to the hospital. We all thought the leg would be severed,” one Rev. Newton is quoted as saying.
Another twelve-year-old, Juliana Amankwaah, who also sustained an injury below her knee from the shooting, recounted how excruciating the pain was.
She said: “When I touched it, I could feel my flesh, it was a deep wound. The skin was off, as if it has been bitten by an animal”
Another victim, Abena Konadu, who witnessed the attack, said it left her in a state of trauma.
“I would have gone to the farm to find some food for my kids, due to the injury she sustained I can’t leave her. In the evening, I feel they are going to come back. I am afraid,” she cried.
13-year-old Angelina Obeng, who was also one of the victims, said that after the robbers had left, she had to flee through the bushes for fear of their return.
“Immediately the robbers left, someone raised an alarm that they were coming back so we all run into the bush. I further sustained some injuries,” Angelina recounted.
Her grandmother, Margaret Opoku, bemoaned how devastating the incident has been for the teenager, considering the fact that she lost her mother some months ago.
“Her mother died eight months ago so she is stuck with me. Her father hasn’t been here for a long time,” the old lady lamented.
Christiana Agyei, a mother of seven children, and her three-month-old pregnant mother-in-law, Rashida Issaka, were both victims of the incident.
“After we were shot, they ordered us to lie down. Unfortunately for me, I fell and some people fell on me. That is what has affected me. The wound I sustained from the gun shots isn’t that bad,” Agyei told Adomonline.com, adding: “Whenever I am alone, I feel their presence. I am afraid.”
It is reported that the church, Heaven Embassy Chapel, has been footing the medical and hospital bills of the victims, but they need support as they have spent over five thousand cedis already.
The Atwima Kwanwoma District Police Command has launched an investigation into the incident.
