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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said yesterday that they have arrested an Abuja based pastor for alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 16-year -old orphan and impregnating her in the process.
According to NAPTIP, the suspect, Onyekachukwu, hails from Nsukka, Enugu State. He is also a full time pastor with the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church (MFM), Gwarimpa branch, Abuja.
NAPTIP spokesperson, Stella Nezan, alleged in a statement released in Abuja, that the suspect was asked to conduct deliverance on the girl after she was accused of being a witch, but he ended up taking advantage of her vulnerability to devour her sexually, repeatedly.
Nezan said that preliminary investigation revealed that the randy pastor lost his wife sometimes ago, and was left with their daughter. It also revealed that the suspect and the victim’s late parents share same neighborhood in Karimo community, in the suburb of Abuja. After the death of the victim’s parents, the suspect volunteered to harbour her and assist in her education so as to give her a fulfilled life until the sad experience was discovered.
During interrogation, the pastor confessed to have sexually abused the girl only twice. He attributed his actions to the devil. He stated that he actually took the girl in, to conduct deliverance on her and also enroll her in school, having missed school for about two years.
“But after the deliverance, she couldn’t find a place to stay. I then took her to live with me and my daughter,” the pastor said.
The victim, in her statement, confirmed that the clergyman started making love advances to her after the first year of living in his house, but she constantly resisted him.
She said the first time she was raped was in March this year, on her birthday. She said the pastor took her and his daughter out on birthday celebration to some relaxation centres in Abuja.
“In the evening of that day, after the pastor’s daughter had gone to bed, he approached me with the love advances and pounced on me ignoring all my plea for mercy,” she explained.
It was gathered during investigation that the clergyman had since continued his actions at will, which resulted in pregnancy.
NAPTIP Director General, Julie Okah-Donli, described the action of the man as the “highest form of wickedness against fellow human being”, considering the fact that the victim is vulnerable and helpless orphan.
She said: “I am deeply sad and disappointed by the action of this man who, ordinarily, ought to have provided hope for the girl by virtue of his position as a clergyman.
“But rather than doing what was biblically expected of him in line with his calling, he abused his position and preyed on the very victim he was supposed to protect.”
