Rev. Fr. Nwaigwe Stephen, a Catholic priest, is under fire in Anambra State after it is claimed that he defiled a 14-year-old girl under his supervision and caused her to become pregnant. According to P.M.EXPRESS, the event took place in Ihiala, Anambra State, Nigeria, where Fr. Stephen lived with the victim while pretending to be her educational sponsor....CONTINUE READING
Due to the claimed heinous crime, he has been detained, charged, and placed under detention in custody by the Awka Sexual and Gender-based Court.
According to allegations of wrongdoing, the Two Hearts of Love Congregation (Ugwu Nso), a religious congregation in Orlu, Imo State, fired several priests in 2018, including Fr. Nwaigwe Stephen.
The prosecutor was given an order by Presiding Magistrate Genevieve Osakwe to copy the case file and transmit it to the Anambra State Attorney-General’s office as well as the Commissioner for Justice’s office for the DPP’s opinion.
According to the police report, the defendant forcibly took the pregnant juvenile to Benin City, Edo State, where she gave birth.
The baby’s whereabouts are still unknown, according to the inquiry.
After meeting the adolescent at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church Parish in Obosi, Anambra State, where he was invited for a religious church activity, Rev. Fr. Stephen’s path to jail captivity began.
The victim testified in court that at the age of 14, the priest abducted her from her parents and moved in with her, promising to pay for her schooling in exchange for her working as his cook.
She said that shortly after moving into the priest’s home, he began coercing her into having intercourse with him, and that he persisted in the behaviour until she became pregnant at the age of 17.
“But when I gave birth to my baby at a native birth attendant’s house in Benin City, I was told that the baby died and when I made efforts for them to show me the dead baby, they said the baby had been buried”.
