Evil Pastors: One Defiles Neighbour’s 12-yr-old Daughter, Other Rapes 40-yr-old Woman

Two pastors who went beyond their calling and listened to the prompting of the devil are now chewing the granite stones of shame following the exposure of their evil deeds and subsequent arrest by the Edo State Police Command.

One of them, 38-year-old Pastor Friday Uwem lured the 12-year-old daughter of his neighbour to a farm in Okokwo village, in November 2013, where she raped the innocent girl, who became pregnant from that single dastardly act. He warned the girl (codenamed Jane) not to say a word about what transpired, threatening that she would drop dead if she revealed his evil deed. Filled with fear of death, the little Jane kept quiet, not knowing that she had become pregnant.

However, the biblical warning, “Thy sin shall find you out,” came through when Jane’s tummy began to protrude, showing the tale-tell signs of pregnancy. Worried by the development, her parents carefully questioned her on May 30, 2014, and learnt that it was Pastor Uwem who committed the atrocity. Promptly, they rushed to the police station in Benin City to report the matter.

Upon hearing the heart-rending story, Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo said a team from the State Criminal Investigation Department proceeded immediately to arrest the pastor.

In the course of interrogation, he confessed to the act. In an interview, he said “The victim is the daughter of my neighbour, who is my friend. It was in the evening that I lured her with biscuit and money and I took her to the bush and raped her. I had sex with her once. I didn’t use condom. I am responsible for the pregnancy. After raping her, I threatened her not to tell anybody. I told her that she would die if she told anybody. It was when the pregnancy became known that her parents vame to my house and I confessed to them.”

His comrade-in-rape and a pastor in Celestial Church in the Igeobazuwa area of Benin City, 38-year-old Pastor Samson Odeyemi, went up the age scale to deceive a 40-year-old woman, who he raped under the pretext of spiritual cleansing to solve a problem she had related to him.

Recalling the sordid story in an interview the victim (name withheld) said: “I had a problem and needed a solution. When I got to Pastor Odeyemi, I narrated my problem to him and he promised to pray for me.

Later he said I have to take a spiritual bath in the river for the problem to be solved. I accepted the advice. The following day, we went to the river. When we got there, he ordered me to remove all my clothes. Initially, I refused to undress, but he insisted that if I bathe with my clothes on, my problem would not be solved. When I undressed, Odeyemi dragged me to the side of the river and raped me. When I got home, I couldn’t sleep; later I felt sick and was convinced that what Pastor Odeyemi did to me was abomination.

“When I couldn’t bear it any longer, I had to inform my husband about the ugly incident. Immediately, we went to the police station in Benin City and reported the case. Pastor Odeyemi was arrested.”

Corroborating what the victim said, Odeyemi said “It is true that the victim came to me and she told me about her problem. In the process, the devil used me. I deceived her and took her to the river side and insisted that she must undress for the spiritual bath. Then I raped her; I told her it was through that process that her problem would be solved. I have been using this method to deceive several women and ladies by raping them at the riverside and I would tell them that their prayers had been answered. I want the victims to forgive me.”

Bothered by the felonious acts of these pastors, the Edo State Police Commissioner advised people to be wary of pastors they associate with and seek help from, stressing that many of them are like wolves in sheep’s clothing.