A pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, Chukwuemeka Orji, has been arrested by the Rivers State Police Command for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old female domestic worker in the Aba area of the state.
According to The PUNCH, this was disclosed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Chinaka Maureen.
While committing the crime, the 60-year-old pastor allegedly left the victim with injuries and subjected her to psychological trauma.
Orji, who promised to pay for the victim’s education when he abducted her from her family, allegedly had carnal knowledge of the 12-year-old since she was 12 years old.
In an attempt to intimidate the victim, the cleric allegedly threatened to stop sponsoring her education and return her to her family if she reported the illegal acts.
The 13-year-old girl recounted her ordeal at the hands of the pastor, stating that when she began living with Orji, he made repeated sexual advances that she refused.
She noted, however, that things took a turn for the worse in 2022, when the pastor allegedly forcibly had carnal knowledge of her, and that it subsequently became a regular occurrence.
Family-friendly sources claim that on June 15, 2023, when Orji tried to get his way with the minor but found out she was menstruating.
It was claimed that he had coerced her into having oral sex with him.
One of the sources said, “Unsatisfied by her performance, he sent her to cut grass at a farm within the church premises as a punishment for being on her period before she was allowed to go to school.
“The victim who could no longer bear the action of the pastor reported him to her class teacher when she got to school. The teacher notified the proprietor of the school and the proprietor alerted the Executive Director of Vivacious Development Initiative, Lady Nwosu, who informed a colleague, Chuka Okoye, after which the police were contacted and the pastor was arrested.”
According to information obtained, Orji was charged on Tuesday at a magistrate court sitting in the state’s Aba South Local Government Area and remanded with a bail condition to the Abia State Correctional Centre until the outcome of his proceedings.
Orji has been sanctioned and removed from the ministry, according to Rev. Dr. Don Njoku, the Aba District Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church.
He addressed the Protect the Precious Foundation, which is run by Norah Okafor.
Njoku said, “Assemblies of God Church is a holiness organisation; we don’t support promiscuity of any kind. What our pastor did is what we preach against. Consequently, even if the announcement is not made official yet, he knows he has been sanctioned.
“He knows that in our constitution, anybody that does such a thing is expelled from the church and we will be going to his church on Sunday to tell the members to put an official approach to it and to tell them to cheer up and continue in the race because when a soldier is hit by a bullet, it does not make other soldiers to shrink, they continue but all they will need to do is to guard themselves more, knowing that in battle, people fall and people die.
“So, obviously Rev. Chukwuemeka Orji is suspended and disfellowshipped from the ministry. Even if the government doesn’t do anything to him, this is what we do when our member does a thing such as that because what he did is what we prohibit, what the Bible prohibits and what we speak and stand against.”