Catholic Priest Remanded for Raping and Impregnating A Teenager
A Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Nwaigwe Stephen, has been remanded in prison custody by an Awka Chief Magistrates’ Court, also known as the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court, Anambra State, for allegedly raping and impregnating a teenager.
The court ordered that the priest be remanded till December 6, 2023, and directed the prosecutor to transmit the original case file to the office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Anambra State for further action.
The priest, who was among the priests expelled by a popular Catholic Faith-Based Religious Congregation in Orlu, Imo State, known as the Two Hearts of Love Congregation (Ugwu Nso) in 2018, for alleged misconduct, was accused of having sexual intercourse with a minor, who he had taken from her parents under the pretext of sponsoring her education.
The offence is punishable under section 34(2) of the Child’s Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004.
The victim, who testified in court during the remand proceedings on Monday, November 20, 2023, said that the priest started forcing himself on her sexually when she was 14 years old, and continued the act until she became pregnant at the age of 17.
She also said that the priest took her from Ihiala, Anambra State, where they lived, to Benin City, Edo State, where she was delivered of her baby at a native birth attendant’s house, but the whereabouts of the baby is still unknown.
She said that the priest told her to lie that she was gang-raped, but she denied ever being raped by anyone else, except the priest.
The defence counsel applied for bail for the priest, citing the relevant sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Anambra State, 2022, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as Amended.
He assured the court that the priest would not jump bail, if granted, and urged the court to grant bail in most liberal terms.
However, the police prosecutor opposed the bail application, stating that the case was an offence against a minor who was supposedly under the spiritual guardianship of the defendant.
He said that the offence of rape against minors was becoming rampant in the society, and the court should not condone such acts, irrespective of whose ox is gored.
The presiding Chief Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, in her ruling, refused to grant bail to the priest, stating that the case was an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
She said that the court would not fold its hands to watch the society decay, and gave several instances of similar offences that had appeared before the court in the past.
She adjourned the case till December 6, 2023, for further hearing.
