The Police in Rivers State have arrested the General Overseer of a Port Harcourt-based new generation Pentecostal church, Pastor Kenneth Praise, for allegedly impregnating three female members of his church’s choir and a nursing mother.
Though Praise, 56, was said to have initially denied being responsible for the girls’ pregnancies, a source said that while he was still at the police station trying to extricate himself from the allegation, one Paul Amadi, also a member of his church, stormed the same police station with his wife to lay similar complaints against him.
Amadi accused the General Overseer of “Mountain of Miracle and Light Ministries”, located at 67, Nanka Waterside, Port Harcourt, of impregnating his wife. The nursing mother’s pregnancy, a police source said, was about two months old, adding, “The pregnancy has suffered series of attempted abortions through pills.”
The police source said that the girls had earlier insisted that the pastor was responsible for their pregnancies. “He used to invite them separately to a hotel located at Port Johnson, near Sharks Stadium and he would sleep with them there.
The girls, whose ages range from 19 to 23, have all admitted meeting themselves several times, either at the hotel or at the pastor’s private guest house on Aba Road,” a senior police officer said. The Point learnt that the atmosphere at the Bori Central Police Station, where the matter was reported, was one of a mixed grill.
“Some on-lookers were making fun of the whole situation, while others condemned the act in its entirety. The pastor, who was hitherto held in high esteem, lost it all. He was spat at, they gave him all manner of names, including ‘he-goat’.
Some of his church members have even abandoned the church, accusing the former revered pastor of being a disgrace to the body of Christ,” he said. The Point gathered that the three pregnant choristers were among the leading praise and worship singers in the church.
An elder in the church, Mr. Otonye Tini, said, “They (girls) usually led praises and worship during every given service. If none of them was around at a service, the G.O would not mount the altar. He would ask someone to go and fetch or bring them to the church service.
“Nobody ever imagined what was going on between them. The girls got pregnant almost the same time. Three of them are two months pregnant. The pastor wanted to abort the pregnancies, but God in His wisdom, said no, you couldn’t do that. Today, he is going to be a father of four newborn babies.
Already, he has five children from his legitimate and legally married wife of 15 years. So, by my calculation, he is blessed with nine children. I thank God for him.” But a police source said that the GO had already made a statement, denying responsibility for the pregnancies.
“But we are still investigating the case. The problem is that the parents of the affected girls are not willing to cooperate. They don’t want to press charges or follow up the case with the police.
They said that the pastor must marry their children. That is the only thing they said they want,” the source disclosed to The Point. The police source added that cases of this nature, where the principal parties refused to cooperate with the law enforcement agents, were usually difficult to follow-up.
“You cannot prosecute the suspect, because nobody would be willing to appear as prosecution witness in the court. Before you know it, the judge would throw the case file at your face. That is one of the problems we are having in handling a case of this nature,” the police source lamented.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers State Command, Rita Inoma, who confirmed the development in a chat with The Point, added that investigations into the incident would go on, despite the uncooperative stance of the impregnated girls’ parents.
“We would continue with our investigations, though the girls’ parents don’t want to cooperate with us; that would not deter us, we have a duty. A crime has been committed and there is a complainant.
So, the law must take its course. The parents of the girls are only interested in the pastor marrying them, but the other woman, the nursing mother’s husband, is willing to press charges against the pastor.
So, even if it is only that one, we would follow it,” Inoma said. She added that already, investigations into the case had reached an advanced stage, with a lot of revelations made.
“The pastor has said he will take care of the pregnant women till delivery. We will grant him bail, because it a bail-able offence. But we have asked him to be reporting to the police station twice a week,” the PPRO said.
Inoma also disclosed that the police had been able to establish the hospital and the doctor who wanted to abort the girls’ pregnancies. “The doctor he paid to carry out abortion on them has been arrested and interrogated. The doctor doesn’t really have a case with us, because he did not perform the act. He is the person that even reported the matter to one of the girls’ parents. So, you can see that we have a tight case,” the police spokesperson added.
