According to TheGuardian, a suspected serial sexual philanderer and paedophile operating in the sleepy Umuazu village in Uke, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been arrested over the alleged rape and other indecent sexual acts against an 11-year old girl (names withheld).

The suspect, Prophet Ikechukwu Nwadike, was said to have moved into the premises of Ichie Otutu Muonwem of Umuazu Uke about four months ago in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic and converted the place to his worship centre.

According to the mother of the victim, Mrs Peace Ejikeme, a 42-year-old widow, who lost her husband to an accident in 2014, “on September 17, the prophet gave a prophecy about my daughter that two spirits, a demonic spirit and a heavenly spirit, were fighting to gain control of her life and that there was an urgent need to separate her from the evil spirit.

“The pastor said I should send her for a midnight deliverance. It was therefore shocking to hear from my daughter on her return that she will not go to that pastor and his church anymore. As she was narrating her ordeal of rape, I broke down in tears. When confronted, the pastor denied the act, saying he only rubbed oil all over her body. I asked him why did he want to destroy my child when he has his own, he then fell on his knees begging for forgiveness, that it was temptation and he would never repeat it again.”

She further alleged that the pastor administered some concoctions laced with Indian hemp on her daughter, which made her drowsy for some days.

Incensed by the allegation, youths in the area mobilised to have the pastor arrested. He was arrested and detained at the Zone 13 headquarters in Dunukofia.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Nkiru Nwode, said the matter was still being investigated and the suspect would be charged to court after investigations were concluded.