A 65-year-old pastor has allegedly raped his seven-year-old house help in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria.
The suspect, Francis Ogwu, hails from Imo State but resides in Awka, Anambra State, according to a statement by Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, a media aide to the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, on Thursday.
Arrest
Ms Ikeanyionwu said Mr Ogwu, a pastor and general overseer of Jesus House of Joy Church, Awka, has been arrested over the alleged crime.
The media aide said the suspect was arrested in response to an alarm raised by some residents in the neighbourhood that he had been raping the girl child.
She said the suspect lives with his wife and children alongside the house help in Awka.
The statement did not indicate when the suspect allegedly raped the survivor.
‘My wife starves me of sex.’
A video clip, which showed the suspect and the survivor being interrogated, was uploaded on Facebook on Thursday.
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In the clip, Mr Ogwu denied raping the survivor.
“I only fingered her once,” he claimed.
Asked why he did not go to his wife instead, he replied, “The problem with my wife is that each time I wanted her, she would tell me that she was fasting or doing night vigil.”
Mr Ogwu also claimed that the devil must have pushed him into the act, given that the survivor had yet to develop breasts that could possibly attract him to her.
“Since 1991 till now, I have been preaching the gospel,” he claimed and pleaded for forgiveness.
The suspect’s wife was asked to respond to her husband’s claim that she frequently denied him sex, but she said she would not be able to answer the question.
She said she was not aware that her husband was raping the survivor.
How he raped me – Survivor
Ms Ikeanyionwu said the survivor narrated to the commissioner how the suspect allegedly raped her.
The survivor, according to the statement, said the suspect had allegedly raped her three times, after which he gifted her between N500 and N1000.
She said the suspect’s wife later accused her of attempting to snatch her husband from her.
She added that she was forced to leave the house following frequent beatings by one of the suspect’s daughters.
The survivor’s mother speaks
Destiny Nwabueze, the mother of the survivor, said she allowed her daughter to live with Mr Ogwu’s family due to the friendship existing between the two families.
Mrs Nwabueze, however, said she was shocked when she learnt from the daughter that the suspect had been raping her.
She said the suspect denied the allegations when confronted, which prompted her to involve people in the neighbourhood in raising the alarm.
Meanwhile, the suspect’s family later arrived at the commissioner’s office and pleaded that the suspect be forgiven.
But the commissioner told them the matter had been handed over to the police.
“The case will be charged to court,” she said.
‘Don’t starve your husbands of sex’
Reacting, the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Obinabo, vowed to ensure the survivor gets justice.
The commissioner advised married women to avoid starving their husbands of sex, stressing that such could “push the husband to misbehave”.
She also urged women always to protect their girl child at all costs, noting that rape was no longer excusable in Anambra State.
Prohibited in Nigeria
Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed all forms of violence against women and girls, including rape, female circumcision and forceful ejection.
Offenders, on conviction, face life imprisonment or a maximum of 14-year jail term, depending on the age of the offender and the type of violence committed.
Various courts of rape have convicted several persons.
An Ado-Ekiti High Court, in July 2022, sentenced a 49-year-old man, Dele Adeyanju, to four years imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old girl.
A Bauchi High Court, in 2017, sentenced two middle-aged men to life in prison for raping a 40-year-old woman and plucking her eyes.
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