Assemblies Of God Pastor Remanded For Allegedly Raping 13-yr-old Minor
A Senior Magistrate Court in Aba South Council Area of Abia state, on Tuesday, remanded one Chukwuemeka Orji at the Correctional Centre for allegedly raping a minor.
Orji, a 60-year-old Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, Ukonu Street, off Ngwa Road, Aba, is facing a one-count charge of serially raping a 13-year-old girl who was living with with his family.
The girl told the court that the man had carnal knowledge of her on many occasions.
She said that after Orji’s third-time rape, she told his wife, Mercy, who reportedly confronted him, but the pastor denied the allegation.
She said that he continued to rape her and threatened to send her back to her parents in the village in Ugwunagbo if she ever told anyone.
According to the girl, the threat deterred her from telling her parents, who worship in another branch of the church, about what she was passing through.
She further said that on Thursday, June 15, after 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 the man forced her to suck his manhood, an act she described as nauseating to her.
She said that because she could not satisfy him, he ordered her to cut the overgrown grass in their compound “as a punishment”.
She said that after the June 15 act, she went to school crying, then, the proprietor asked her why she was crying and she told him everything.
She said the school Head then invited the police who arrested the man.
Report has it that that Orji pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to him.
After presenting his own version of the story, the Magistrate, Mrs Jane Young-Daniel, called Orji’s wife on cellphone, asking if she was aware of the allegation against her husband.
It was learnt that Mercy initially denied being aware of the allegation, but later admitted that she heard it and confronted her husband, who denied the allegation.
The Police prosecutor, Mrs Mary Udoji, urged the court not to admit the defendant on bail in order to prevent him from further molesting the girl.
The Magistrate was told that the girl had since been in Police custody, and she ordered that she be returned to her parents immediately
She also ordered that Orji be remanded at the Aba Correctional Centre, and adjourned the case to the 6th and 18th of July for hearing.
