A Pentecostal pastor in Imo State has been detained by the State Police Command for allegedly defiling a 10-year-old girl and her 16-year-old sick elder sister.
Pastor Kenneth Onyeali, who is the general overseer of Christ New Covenant Church located in Umuagwo in Ohaji Egbema local government area of Imo State, allegedly defiled the sick girl, Loveth Emeoha, while supposedly conducting ‘deliverance’ for her.
Loveth, 16, from the nearby Umudagwa village, Apani community in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State, was said to have developed a health complication on her legs that suddenly crippled her.
The situation forced her to drop out of school.
Loveth’s mother, Mrs. Ijeoma Emeoha, took her to Pastor Kenneth for prayers and the cleric, it was gathered, told her to leave her sick daughter behind for some days to deliver her from her ill health.
It was equally learned that after some days, the pastor also demanded that Loveth’s 10-year-old younger sister be brought to the church to look after her.
“The pastor I entrusted my sick daughter into his care and he was repeatedly defiling my sick child for days and when he got tired of her, he demanded that the younger one be brought to him and he continued from where he stopped,” the Nation quoted the victims’ mom as saying.
“When my daughter complained after some days of constant sexual intercourse, Pastor Kenneth told her that that was the only way she could be healed of her sickness”.
Mrs. Emeoha said she discovered that her daughters were defiled “when my 10-year-old daughter returned from the church, I decided to bath her myself.
“But, I saw her bleeding from her private part and the couldn’t allow me to touch her there. When I queried her, she told me it was Pastor Kenneth that used his fingers inside her vagina. She said the pastor told her that if she wanted her elder sister to get better, she must allow him to remove some evil spirit in her vagina”.
On hearing the little girl’s confession, Mrs Ijeoma rushed to the church to take her sick elder daughter only to discover that the pastor had been sexually assaulting the girl since she was brought to the church.
“When I confronted the pastor, he immediately refunded N30,000 I was charged for the prayers, begging that I forgive him. But I reported to my husband’s brothers who reported the matter to the police,” she said.
Mrs. Emeoha pleaded with the relevant authorities to help her find justice for her innocent daughters who were violated by a man she trusted to be a man of God.
A family source disclosed that Pastor Kenneth’s wife had allegedly offered the Emeoha family N200, 000 to keep sealed lips, an offer they rejected, but expressed fears that the pastor might use the money to subvert justice.
The State Police Spokesman, Orlando Ikeoku, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Monday, saying it was a case of defilement with the consent to the victims.
“Though, the girl was deceived by the pastor into believing that she could be healed of her ailment through sexual intercourse with him. After three days of sexual intercourse with the pastor, the girl wasn’t seeing any improvement. She complained and had to report to her people,” Ikeoku said.
He added that the pastor would soon be charged to court at the end of police investigations
The Nation
