“The security man told him the pastor was not available so he should return another time and left the suspect to attend to something else on the premises,” Amos told the Daily Guide.

He said the security man of the church later realised that the alleged thief was carting the items away and raised an alarm.

Residents subsequently came out in their numbers and subjected the suspect to severe beatings.

The suspect would have been lynched but for the intervention of the Assembly member for the area, Carlos Amos.