The Police in Rivers State have
paraded a pastor of a church in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State capital, for
allegedly raping a JSS 2 girl. The
young girl, said to be a member of the
pastor’s church, was allegedly raped
for three consecutive days.
Opirite F. Amakiri, aged 50 years, a
pastor of a Pentecostal Church,
“Agape Baptist Church”, located along
Aka Base in Rumuolumeni area of
Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of
the state, allegedly lured his victim
into the room to help massage his
waist for a cure from a protracted
waist pain.
Amakiri allegedly claimed that his
request was informed by divine
revelation that if he could get a girl of
between the ages of 12 and 18 years to
massage the waist, the problem would
be solved.
To assist her pastor, the elder sister to
the victim, a young widow, who is
also a member of the choir in the
church, offered to give out her little
sister for the job.
The pastor allegedly took undue
advantage of the young girl To Molest
her.
A father of four and husband to a
medical official, the pastor confessed
to the crime. Interestingly, instead of
the usual practice of blaming such act
on the devil, the pastor said, “count
the devil out of this, he did not do
anything, I did it by myself. But I now
regret my actions. God decided to
expose and chastise me.”
The Police said he would be charged
to court the moment the doctor’s
reports/medical results are out.
Narrating what happened to
newsmen, the suspect said: “The
reason I was arrested and being
detained by the Police is because of a
rape case I involved myself in. I am
50 years old and have been a
Christian for 22 years. I am a pastor
of Agape Baptist Church for seven
years.
“The older sister to the girl I raped is
a choir member of my church. It was
after choir practice one Thursday that
I informed the sister that I would like
to visit her house for a serious
discussion, and she obliged me.
The following day, I paid her the visit
and requested that she allow her
younger sister to massage my waist. I
said that I have been having a terrible
pain around my waist area for the
past two years and every treatment,
drugs and injection have failed.
“She then went and discussed with the
younger sister who accepted to help
me. So we had the first massage
treatment that day while the older
sister was around. Nothing happened
between me and the little girl.
“On Saturday I called her to inform
her that I was coming back for the
treatment. I got there while she was
about to leave for choir practice in
the church. But while the massage
was going on, I had an urge, so I had
carnal knowledge of the girl. I have
successfully raped her three times.
“It was the fourth time that she
locked the gates against me, so I had
to call her sister on her cell phone
and she rushed to the house from her
shop and began to interrogate the girl
on why she did not want to massage
my waist again. That was when she
disclosed what has been happening
between us.”
Asked if he was married, the suspect
said he has a wife and four children,
whose ages range between 6, 10, 12
and 14, adding that his wife is a
health worker.
“I did not ask my wife to massage my
waist because she was at her work
place at Old Bakana, in Degema LGA,
as at the time I requested the girl to
massage me. My wife comes back to
Port Harcourt only when she is on off
duties.
“I felt that Deborah, being my
spiritual daughter, would be of more
help to me than my wife. That was
why I went to her. I sincerely regret
my actions. It is like the ground
should open up and swallow me.
I did a very wrong thing. I pray to my
church members to forgive me and
never follow my footsteps. If I have
made a mistake, I don’t advise any of
my members to also make the same
mistake, because Heaven is real and
hell fire is also real.” He pleaded.
On why he sought for help for his
waist pain problem from a young
lady, in a church of over 200
congregation, he said: “Temptation
can push anyone towards anybody,
and when God wants to expose and
chastise a person, anybody can be the
victim.”
Narrating her ordeal, the little girl
said: “I was in the house when the
Pastor came and asked me to massage
his waist.
On the first day I massaged him,
nothing happened between us. But on
the second day, while I was massaging
him, he began to touch my breast and
raped me.
I tried to escape, but he held me down
and warned me never to tell anybody
what he did to me. He has raped me
three times.”
Addressing newsmen, the Spokesman
of the state Police command, Ahmad
Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent
of Police, said the suspect was
arrested following a report from the
victim’s family that “one Pastor
Opirite Amakiri, of Agape Baptist
Church in Aka road, in Rumuolumeni
area of Port Harcourt was constantly
raping a little girl that is less than 18
years. We quickly went after him and
got him arrested.
“Following our investigations, it was
discovered that the elder sister to the
victim is a member of the Pastor’s
Church.
According to her, the Pastor
approached her and said that the
Spirit of God revealed to him in the
place of prayer that a young girl
between the age bracket of 12 and 18
should massage his waist in order for
his two-year waist pain to be healed.
“So, the victim’s sister, either for fear
of the pastor or love for him, or even
as an act of conspiracy, because she is
mature and married, asked her
underage sister that was living with
her to help massage the Pastor.
“Each day the Pastor will sneak into
the woman’s house when she must
have left for her business to be doing
the massaging with the girl.
According to the victim, except for
the first massage, which was done
when her sister was around, the rest
of the massaging sessions ended in
rape.
It was the last day that the girl, for
whatever reason, tried to run away
from the man by locking the gate
when she heard the man was going to
come.”
The victim’s elder sister, Deborah
Prince Elegba, who corroborated the
police statement, said she agreed to
allow her younger sibling help
massage the pastor because he
claimed that the Holy Spirit
commanded him to do it.
The father of the victim, Baate, also
expressed anger over the incident,
wondering how the Pastor of his
family church could do such
despicable thing to his daughter.
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