Metro
34-yr-old pastor paraded in court for kidnapping, raping choir mistress
An Oredo Magistrate Court in Benin, Edo State played host to a case involving a pastor who allegedly abducted and raped a female member of his church.
The presiding pastor of the Global Influence Ministry, identified as Joseph Igwemon, 34, according to the prosecutor committed the crime on October 15, 2018, in the Mission Road area of Benin metropolis.
The suspect who was arraigned on two counts of abduction and an act likely to cause the breach of peace was accused of keeping the woman said to be a chorister in his church at his house despite the fact that she is married.
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The charge against Igwemon whose offence contravened sections 249(d) and 361 of the Criminal Code applicable in the state read in part, “That you, Pastor Joseph Igwemon, on October 15, 2018, at noon in your church, Global Influence Ministry, at 16, Owoseni Street, off Mission Road, Benin, did conduct yourself in a manner likely to cause the breach of peace by having carnal knowledge of one Stella George, who is a chorister in your church, having wedded her and her husband, one Paul Nosakhare, and thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Code, Cap 48, Vol. II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo State.
“That you, Pastor Joseph Igwemon, on the same date, time and place, in the aforesaid magisterial district, did abduct one Mrs Stella George by keeping her in your house for months, knowing that she is married and thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 361 of the Criminal Code, Cap 48, Vol. II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo State.”
After listening to the prosecutors charge, the presiding judge Mrs Isi Iyoha, granted the pastor bail in the sum of N200,000 and a surety in like sum as she later adjourned the case to November 29, 2018, for further hearing.
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