A man who claimed to be a pastor in one of the pentecostal churches in Lagos, Pastor  Nnamdi Agwah Isaiah, has been arrested by the police and charged before the Ejigbo  Magistrate’s Court for arson.

The pastor was alleged to have bought a petrol and poured it on the house he rented  and set it ablaze under circumstances he could not explain.

The prosecuting police officer told the court that his true intention was not known  but the accused claimed after his arrest that he was yet to come to terms with what  happened.

The incident happened at 14, Suaban Olorunfemi Street, Igando, an outskirts of Lagos  State, Southwest Nigeria.

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The accused, the prosecutor alleged, ran away after the incident but his hiding  place was discovered by his co-tenants who reported to the police.

In her evidence before the court, the owner of the house, Mrs. Amudat Usman, accused  the defendant of wilfully setting her house ablaze. But the pastor in his response  denied this, saying a mysterious spirit took hold of him that fateful day and that  it was not his intention to set the house on fire and run away.

His offence is contrary to Section 343 of the Criminal Code, Cap.17, VoL. 2, Laws of  Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.

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When the charge was read to him, he pleaded not guilty and the magistrate, Mrs. M.B.  Folami granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two responsible sureties.

The court also ordered that the case file should be duplicated and sent to the  Directorate of Public Prosecution for advice.

The magistrate adjourned the matter till 10 January, 2011  and ordered that the  defendant should be remanded at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Apapa, until  he is able to meet the conditions attached to the bail.

—Cyriacus Izuekwe

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