An Anglican clergyman was on Saturday night held hostage by gangsters for eight hours during a church robbery.

Valuable church property was stolen during the raid at St Peters Mananga Church, Murang'a District.

The seven-man gang silently walked into the compound and tied the hands of the priest in charge, the Rev Cyrus Njuguna. They robbed him of cash, household goods and church equipment worth thousands of shillings.

The Rev Njuguna spent the night chained to his bed and was rescued by worshippers at dawn yesterday.

Police said the had received the report on the robbery but had not made any arrest.

The priest said he had just eaten supper at around 10pm when he heard some one call his name outside.

No sooner had he approached the door than the gang armed with axes, pangas and metal bars forced their way in and seized him.

"They gagged my mouth, blindfolded me using pieces of my clothes and handcuffed me. They then tied my legs together using my religious robes," he added.

Recounting his ordeal to the Nation, a visibly shaken Rev Njuguna said he was later tied so tightly to his bed his entire body became numb.

The priest, who was accompanied by a former management official of the church, Mr Jesse Mwangi, said that though the teenage looking gangsters were armed, none of them attempted to attack him with their weapons.

He said they only ransacked his house and made away with Sh1,200 in cash, clothes and other personal effects. The church public address system valued at Sh46,000 and other property were also stolen.

The churchman attributed the incident to the high drop out rate in local schools.

He added that the problem had been compounded by the crisis facing the coffee sector, which he noted was the economic lifeline of the majority parents.