A 60-year-old pastor, Chukwuemeka Orji has been remanded in prison by the Aba South Senior Magistrate’s Court following allegations of raping a minor.
It was gathered that Mr. Chukwuemeka Orji, a pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Aba, is facing charges of serially raping a 13-year-old girl who was living with him.
During the court proceedings, the rape survivor, whose identity was withheld, testified that the defendant had engaged in sexual intercourse with her on multiple occasions.
She disclosed that after the third incident of rape, she confided in Orji’s wife, Mercy, who confronted him about the allegations, but the pastor denied the accusations in the presence of his wife.
However, Orji continued to sexually assault her and threatened to send her back to her parents in their village of Ugwunagbo if she revealed the truth.
The survivor stated that the threat prevented her from informing her parents, who attended a different branch of the church, about the ordeal she was enduring.
She further said that on Thursday, June 15, after Mr Orji’s wife had gone to market, he asked her for sex but she refused on the ground that she was menstruating.
She said that Mr Orji however forced her to suck his manhood, an act she described as nauseating to her.
The girl said that because she could not satisfy him, he ordered her to cut the overgrown grass in their compound “as a punishment”
Following the events of June 15, the girl went to school in tears. “It was while I was crying that my school proprietor inquired as to why I was crying and I told him the truth.”
She said that it was at that point that the police were invited into the matter.
Orji pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him.
During the proceedings, Magistrate Mrs. Jane Young-Daniel contacted Orji’s wife via phone to inquire if she was aware of the allegations against her husband.
Initially, Mercy denied having knowledge of the accusations but later admitted that she had heard about them and confronted her husband, who denied the claims.
The police prosecutor, Mrs. Mary Udoji, requested that the court deny the defendant bail to prevent further harm to the girl.
Upon learning that the girl had been in police custody, Magistrate Young-Daniel ordered her immediate return to her parents.
She also remanded Orji at the Aba Correctional Centre and scheduled the next hearing for July 6 and 18.
KanyiDaily had also reported how 32-year-old prophet, Godson Nse Thompson raped a 13-year-old girl sent to him for intercessory prayers at Ikot Offiong Nsit in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.