Police operatives from Rumuji Police Division have arrested a cleric, identified as Pillar, the resident Pastor of Gracious Covenant Church in Ndele community, Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State.
Pillar was arrested on Thursday for defiling and impregnating a 15-year-old following a complaint made by Amesi ThankGod, an in-law to the female teenager.
According to ThankGod, “If her (victim) mother goes to the farm, the girl normally goes to the church to relax; then (she) comes back in the evening.
“In the last few days, the 15 years old girl has been vomiting before my wife (her elder sister) took her to hospital for a medical test.”
He furthered that after the girl had been tested, the result showed that she was pregnant.
ThankGod said the pastor reportedly threatened the young girl not to tell anyone, otherwise, she would die.
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“From what she told us, Pastor Pillar threatened her life if she opens up on her ordeal. But when my wife confronted him, he agreed to take responsibility, pleading abortion for my underage sister in law, a suggestion the family resisted.
“The girl is not strong. She is sick and it is her mother or my wife who bath and dress her up as a result of the stress of the pregnancy,” he added.
Reports confirmed that vigilantes in Ndele took the suspect in custody to prevent mob attacks before handing him over to men of the Rumuji Police Division.
However, Prince Wiro, National Coordinator, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, urged the Police to “investigate the case without bias and suspect rightly prosecuted if found culpable.”
When contacted, the spokesperson of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed saying: “Yes, we are aware of the incident. The suspect has been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.”
