A 65-year-old pastor, Francis Ogwu has been arrested for allegedly raping his seven-year-old house help in Anambra State.
This was disclosed by the media aide to the Anambra State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Chidinma Ikeanyionwu. on Thursday. According to the statement, Ogwu, hails from Imo State, but resides in Awka, Anambra State.
Ikeanyionwu stated that Ogwu,who is a Pastor and General Overseer of Jesus House of Joy Church, Awka, has been arrested over the alleged crime.
She said the suspect was arrested in response to an alarm raised by some residents in the neighbourhood. They maintained that Pastor Ogwu had been raping the girl child.
According to the media aide, She the suspect lives with his wife and children alongside the house help in Awka.
However, she did not indicate when the suspect allegedly raped the survivor.
In a viral video on social media, which was uploaded on Thursday, the suspect and the survivor were shown being interrogated.
As was observed in the clip, the accused, Pastor Ogwu denied raping the survivor.
He said, “I only fingered her once.”
Giving reasons for his action, Ogwu said, “The problem with my wife is that each time I wanted her, she would tell me that she was fasting or doing night vigil.”
He, however, blamed the devil for his actions. He said, “The devil must have pushed me into the act.
This given the fact that the survivor had yet to develop breasts that could possibly attract him to her.
Ogwu, while admitting the crime, pleaded for forgiveness.
He said, “Since 1991 till now, I have been preaching the gospel.”
Responding to the her husband’s behaviour, Ogwu’s wife said she was not aware that her husband was raping the survivor.
On the allegation that she denies her husband sex, the wife said she would not be able to answer the question.
However, Ms. Ikeanyionwu stated how the survivor narrated to the Commissioner how the suspect allegedly raped her.
She said the suspect had allegedly raped the girl three times, after which he gifted her between N500 and N1000.
According to the media aide, the suspect’s wife later accused the girl of attempting to snatch her husband from her.
Ms. Ikeanyionwu added that the girls was forced to leave the house following frequent beatings by one of the suspect’s daughters.
However, the mother of the survivor, Destiny Nwabueze, said she allowed her daughter to live with Mr Ogwu’s family due to the friendship that existed between the two families.
She, however, said she was shocked when she learnt from the daughter that the suspect had been raping her.
Nwabueze added that the suspect denied the allegations when confronted. An action that made her to involve people in the neighbourhood in raising the alarm.
In trying to resolve the matter, Ogwu’s family members later approached the Commissioner and pleaded that the suspect be forgiven.
They were, however, to by the Commissioner that the matter had been handed over to the police.
“The case will be charged to court,” the Commissioner told them.
Reacting to the incident, the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, vowed to ensure the survivor gets justice.
She, however, advised married women to avoid starving their husbands of sex. She maintained that such denials could “push the husband to misbehave”.
Obinabo also urged women always to protect their girl child at all costs. She noted that rape was no longer excusable in Anambra State.
Recall that Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed all forms of violence against women and girls. These include rape, female circumcision and forceful ejection.
Offenders of any of these crimes, on conviction, face life imprisonment or a maximum of 14-year jail term. This, however, depends on the age of the offender and the type of violence committed.
source: Premium Times
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