
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has arrested a 48–year-old pastor in Abuja for alleged rape and sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old orphan.
NAPTIP’s
Head, Press, and Public Relations Unit, Stella Nezan, said in Abuja.
Nezan
alleged that the suspect, a pastor in the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church
(MFM), Gwarimpa branch, had also impregnated the teenager.
She said
that the suspect, who volunteered to provide shelter for the girl and deliver
her from evil spirit after she had been accused of witchcraft, took advantage
of the situation.
“NAPTIP
operatives effected arrest of one pastor with MFM in Gwarimpa, Abuja, for rape,
sexual molestation and impregnating a 16-year-old orphan.
“The suspect
from Nsukka in Enugu State was said to have volunteered to provide shelter and
also conduct deliverance on the girl after she lost her parents and was accused
of witchcraft.
“But he took
advantage of the vulnerability of the innocent girl and repeatedly devoured her
sexually,” she said.
Nezan said
that the victim, a Junior Secondary School (JSS) student in Abuja had lived
with the pastor, a widower, and his daughter for sometimes before the sexual
exploitation started.
The suspect
was said to have confessed to committing the crimes “only twice” and blamed it
on the devil.
“The victim,
a JSS2 student of one of the government schools in Abuja, suddenly dropped out
of school and was in dire need of accommodation shortly after the death of her
parents in 2018.
“Investigation
revealed that the pastor was living with his daughter in the same compound with
the victim’s deceased parents in Karmo, a suburb of Abuja, and volunteered to
assist her in her education.
“According
to the victim, after the first year of their living together, the pastor
started making love advances toward her, an action she constantly resisted.
“She
narrated that the first time the pastor raped her was in March, after her
birthday outing,” Nezan said.
She added
that the pastor continued to rape her afterwards and it resulted in pregnancy.
“During
interrogation, the pastor confessed to sexually abusing the girl only twice and
attributing the evil act to the devil,” she added.
Meanwhile,
the Director General of NAPTIP, Ms. Julie Okah-Donli, has described the action
of the suspect as the highest form of wickedness against a fellow human being.
Okah-Donli
promised that the case would be diligently prosecuted in order to secure
justice for the victim.
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