….Sanctioned and Expelled From The Church
Rev. Chukwuemeka Orji, of Aba District, Assemblies of God Church, has raped and molested his 13 year old house help, Miss Ngozi Anyanwu(not real name)leaving bruises and psychological trauma on the child.
Rev. Orji who was said to have had carnal knowledge of the girl at the age of 12 thereby deflowering her did so with threats of sending her back to the village and stopping her education if she told anyone.
The 60 year old clergy was said to have taken custody of the girl from her family to take care of their only 6 year old girl child, while they take care of her and her education.
The 13-year old is said to have lived with the family for only three years, out of which Rev. Orji has molested her for 2 years, after the first horrible experience.
Rev. Chukwuemwka Orji, 60 years, is a pastor of the Assemblies of God Church situated at #12 Ukonu Street, Off Ngwa road, Aba, Abia state where they are also resident.
According to the survivor, during the first year, he continuously pestered her with sexual demands which she fearfully refused. The attempt by the Assemblies of God clergy to sleep with her took another turn, when early last 2022, he forcefully had carnal knowledge of her leading to her defilement, after which it became a regular act. The serial abuse of little Miss. Anyanwu was always accompanied with a threat to send her back to the village (which the vulnerable victim is afraid of) and also deal with her family if she discloses his inhuman act to anyone. The survivor says she has lost counts of the number of times he had forced himself on her but revealed that she had reported to the wife, Pastor (Mrs). Mercy Chukwuemeka who took no action to protect her, but rather belived her husband who denied the acts, leaving the girl at his mercy, while admitting that she leaves the 13 year old to take care of her 6 year old which includes preparing her for school everyday since she leaves for her business early everyday.
Ngozi further revealed that once the aunty leaves home, she is meant to go drop off their child at school and return home for actions once the man is in the mood before going to school. Every attempt to bulge is occasioned by threats of sending her packing the next day and dealing with the family. An act she lived with for two years with someone she called “daddy” and prayed with every morning and nights.
Luck ran out of Rev. Orji on Thursdsay 15 June. 2023 when as usual he was to take turns with the girl but discovered she was on her period, rather than let her go, he forcefully had an oral sex with her. Unsatisfied with her performance, he sent her to weed grasses at a farm within the church premises (as a punishment for been on her period, when he needed her) before she could go back to school.
Ngozi who couldn’t bear the pains of the oral sex and disgusted by the actions cried to school and reported to her class teacher who went ahead to notify the proprietor of the ugly report. The proprietor angered by such dirty acts of a supposed “Man of God” immediately called the Executive Director of Vivacious Development Initiative (VIDI), Lady Onyinyechi Nwosu, a member of the ONURUBE coalition and member of the Abia State Gender-Besed Violence Response team, who in turn reached out to Mr. Chuka Okoye, a colleague and they both got the police involved and equally notified relevant stakeholders about the case. These actions led to the arrest and detention of the child rapist, Rev. Orji.
He was arraigned at a magistrate court In Aba South L.G.A on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, and has been detained at the Abia State Correctional Centre pending the determination of his cases on 6th, 18th and 25th of July, with a bail condition.
Meanwhile, the Aba District Superintendent of Assemblies of God Church, Rev. Dr. Don Njoku has confirmed the report, adding that the said paedophiles has been sanctioned, disfellowship and expelled from the ministry as the church do not and will not condone such promiscuity from her members not to talk of her pastors.
Rev. Don who made the disclosure while speaking with Norah Okafor, the lead person, Protect the Precious Foundation decried such dastardly acts by someone who is supposed to protect such a vulnerable child maintained that the name of the church cannot be brought to disrepute by an action of one man and called on his members not to despair but stay focused on the goal which is making heaven as God remains the only infallible being.
According to him, “Assemblies of God Church is a holiness organization, we don’t support promiscuity of any kind. What our pastor, yes he is our pastor really, what he did is what we preach against. Consequently, even if the announcement is not made official yet, he himself knows he has been sanctioned. He knows because 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 my 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 is suspended and disfellowship 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,” he added.
Protect the Precious Foundation, a girl child advocacy project, has been joined in the project and would make sure justice is served while bringing you updates on the case.
