A cleric that described himself as the chairman of
bishops in Rivers State, Bishop Chibuike Nwabueze, has been arrested for
allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl and sponsoring the abortion of the baby. The
incident was said to have occurred at about 2p.m on April 29, at Calvary
Army Ministry in Rumuoji Eneka, in Obio/Akpor Local Goverment Area of the
state.
The cleric allegedly admitted that he had a carnal knowledge
of the victim (name withheld), but attributed the crime to a set-up by his
enemies.Bishop Nwabueze, who was paraded yesterday, at the Rivers State
Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Port Harcourt, told journalists
that anyone could fall victim under manipulation.
He alleged that it was his fellow bishop and the host where
he went to minister as a guest preacher that planned the incident because there
had been a tussle for the chairmanship seat of the communion of bishops. “We
have different colleges of bishops. I am the chairman of Communion of Bishops
in Rivers State. Well, what actually happened was a set up. It was set up
by my enemies. I have so many people who are my enemies. The man who is in
charge of where I went to minister is my enemy. He is the person that set me up.
“He invited me to his church for a programme, claiming to be my friend
and after the programme, he set me up because of what we were dragging. We are
in a tussle for chairmanship of the communion and that was why he set me up.
“He told newsmen that it was after praying for the girl in his office on the
fateful day that she allegedly seduced him into having sex with her, pointing
out that he did not rape her. I was surprised when I saw her pulling off her clothes.
But, before you knew it, I had carnal knowledge of her. That is the truth of
the matter. “She laughed at me and said ‘are you angry? I told her
that I did not know what she had hypnotised me for and she said I should
not bother. I was so angry that I called some of my pastors and made a
confession that I did not know what happened. “The suspect maintained that if
he raped her as alleged, the girl would have raised the alarm, because many
people were within the church premises. According to him, it was after a month
that the victim’s father called him on phone, saying that his daughter was pregnant.
Though, the cleric admitted funding the victim’s laboratory test and other
hospital bills, he stressed that it was the girl’s father that insisted on
abortion, adding that he took her to a clinic, where it was confirmed that the
victim had aborted the child. Meanwhile, the police have advised parents to
carefully choose where their children worship and be wary of some clergies. The
Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of SCID, Samuel Okaula, who paraded the
bishop and a male nurse, said the arrest of Bishop Nwabueze should serve
as a deterrent to other so-called clerics.
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