Tony Osauzo, Benin
Police have arrested the General Overseer of Gloryland Church, Benin Edo State, Pastor Ekene Samuel, for allegedly impregnating and procuring abortion for a teenage member of his church, simply identified as Miracle.
Police said Pastor Ekene charmed and had sex with Miracle in December 2018, even as different charms were found at his residence.
His arrest followed a report by one Henry Aikhuaman that Miracle was missing.
It was learnt that the girl was later found on a sick bed at Graceville Medical Centre along Ewah Road in Benin City, where doctors reportedly told police interrogators that Miracle was brought in by one Happy Johnson, a deaconess in Pastor Ekene’s church.
Speaking to newsmen at the Police Command Headquarters in Benin, Happy said it was Pastor Ekene that told her to procure the abortion for Miracle. On his part, the accused described Miracle as one of his daughters in his church and narrated how he put her in the family way.
“In August last year, I had an extra-marital affair with her. She came to me this year that she was pregnant. I asked my member here to take her to the hospital. She was taking some drugs to remove the pregnancy. The baby died in her womb. The doctors did surgery on her because she was having appendicitis. The hospital asked me to pay N380, 000 and I have paid N150, 000 before I was arrested. She did not die.”