Robbers Raid Bishop's House

THE FIJAI residence of Bishop Emmanuel Kweku Botwey, General Overseer of Christian Faith Church International (CFCI) and a renowned man of God in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, was attacked by a gang of armed robbers who took away about GH¢4,000. The incident occurred on the dawn of Thursday, February 10, 2011. The robbers, who were about four and wearing masks and wielding different types of guns, stormed the newly-built house of the bishop at about 1am on Thursday and held the occupants of the house hostage at gunpoint. The general overseer of CFCI was however not at the house at that particular moment as he was in Accra attending a meeting of the Ghana Pentecostal Council. The robbers scaled the dwarf wall of the house and when the security man, who was at the garage heard an unusual noise and tried to open the door to the garage to check what was going on, he was confronted by four masked armed robbers who pointed guns at him. The security man, who initially wanted to defy the orders of the robbers to lead them to the bishop’s room, budged when he saw that his life was in danger. “Bishop had travelled; he had gone to Accra for a conference. The robbers cocked the gun and pointed it at me, so in fear I took them to the room where some visitors from Italy were lodging,” the security man stated. The robbers ransacked the room and made away with money in various currencies amounting to over GH¢4,000.00. When DAILY GUIDE went to the house of the bishop yesterday, a male visitor from Italy said he was stabbed on the thigh when he tried to struggle with one of the robbers. People from all walks of life in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis including pastors, church members and residents in the vicinity had thronged the house to sympathize with the wife and children of the bishop as early as 9am yesterday. Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, Edward Atta-Ninkyi, one of the children of the bishop, corroborated the security man’s version of the story and said the armed robbers entered the house by jumping the fence wall. He added that the robbers also entered the room of one of his brothers and at gun point, took away his mobile phone and a wallet containing an undisclosed amount of money, after which they bolted. He pointed out that by the time the police patrol team got to the house, the armed robbers had finished with their operation and had left. The wife of the bishop, Mercy Botwey, who was so terrified about the incident, mentioned that it was the third time armed robbers had attacked the house. She indicated that before moving to their newly-built Fijai residence, they were staying at Anaji near Takoradi, and had been attacked twice by armed robbery. She confirmed that her husband was away when the incident occurred.