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Kinyarwanda
Police in Ngororero District has recovered over Rwf1.4 million stolen a fortnight ago from a Senior Pastor of ADEPR church in Musheri sector of Nyagatare District.
The recovered money is part of the Rwf3.7 stolen from the house of Pastor Nathan Kayumba.
The money was recovered from one Jean Claude Ntakirutimana, 18, on August 15, who was also arrested and currently detained at Ngororero Police station.
Ntakirutimana was found at his parents home in Nyamata Cell, Kageyo sector in Ngororero where he was staying with his mother, where the money was also recovered.
Pastor Kayumba described the suspect as one of the needy teenagers he had taken in and supporting at his ancestral home in Musheri sector.
“The money was stolen on a Sunday as we had gone for a Sunday service. It was a contribution by church members to fund various church projects. It's so unfortunate that the person I was actually helping is the one that betrayed me. I had no idea that he could dare become a devil and steal the money," Pastor Kayumba said.
He thanked Police for recovering the money and apprehending the suspect, but ladvised clergy members to always screen the needy children they bring in to help.
The suspect, who confessed to the act, allegedly broke into the pastor's bedroom where he stole the money, after breaking the door with a panga.
Police said the arrest and the subsequent recovery of the monies followed information provided area residents who became suspicious after seeing the suspect with huge sums of money.
"Residents became suspicious after they saw the boy with all this money since they knew he wasn't working, so they informed Police in the nearby who arrested him but later we found out that he's actually the one we have been looking for over the same theft case," AIP Java Mvano, the Western region Police spokesperson, said.
AIP Mvano commended the good partnership with the general public in fighting and preventing crimes.
He, however, advised everyone to desist from keeping such huge monies in the house, which he said can also tempt someone into a crime.
"Commercial banks are everywhere and near communities and accessing your money in the bank has been made more easier with the use of so there is no reason of keeping such monies in the house. By keeping the money in the bank, you will also be preventing crimes," AIP Mvano noted.
