Pastor complains of hash sentence after crime on girlAugustine Aminu and Michael Oche 6 March 2011
Abuja — A Kaduna State born-Pastor Paul John of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Dawala, in Karu local government area of Nasarawa State, will not forget Wednesday February 16, 2011, in a hurry; it was the day that his escapades with Amina (not real name) the three year-old-daughter of his former landlord came to the fore.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that the pastor had been a tenant of Amina's father for over three years. He was only made to leave when the adjoining building where the landlord lived collapsed. Even at that, he moved into the apartment of a close relative of the father of the girl, which is a stone's throw from the house of his former landlord.
The man, popularly known as Yarima who said his daughter's name shouldn't be mentioned to avoid stigmatization said, "We were living like one family. He packed out of my house because the one I was occupying before fell. Even the place the pastor packed into is still my relation's house. It is not far from where we live. We had maintained that close link since then."
According to him, the pastor lived in his house for three years without paying a dime. He said from every indication, the pastor must have raped his daughter on the Monday that she first felt feverish. "I noticed that my daughter's temperature was rising too high on Monday February 14, 2011. I had taken my younger brother to General Hospital, Asokoro, for medical attention. When we returned, my daughter, who was feeling all right before we left, was feverish. I went to a chemist shop and bought some drugs for her. She took it and continued with the treatment until Wednesday."
On the evening of Wednesday, precisely around 5pm, the landlord came back from work. As he walked around his compound, one of his slippers cut. He then sat down and began using any available iron to repair it. While he was doing it, Pastor Paul John, said to be from Jebba, strolled towards him, saw what he was doing and instantly volunteered to repair it for him. He however insisted on taking it to his house to fix.
"When the pastor saw me trying to fix the slippers, he told me to bring it so that he would repair it. He told me to allow my daughter to go with him, so that she would bring it back after the repair. I accepted because I had no ill-feelings against him. He left with my daughter. After a short while, my mind began to disturb me. I asked myself why I should allow my three-year-old daughter to follow him. I then walked to the pastor's house. When I got there, he was inside with my daughter," the landlord explained.
He said he did not suspect anything, but he simply wanted to see what he was doing. "There is a gate that one must open before gaining access to the pastor's house. The gate made a noise as I opened it. Immediately I opened it, the pastor came out and began to repair the slippers. He finished it shortly. My daughter was inside with him, but she later came out. She was not looking harmed. When I was about to go, the pastor asked my daughter to return home with me. Both of us left together."
When they got home, he allowed his daughter to play around with her peers who were in the compound. Then he went and sat at a shop near his house. While he was seated there, he had no incline that his daughter had gone missing again.
"I didn't know when the pastor came back to my house and sneaked away with my daughter. All of a sudden, I didn't see my daughter again. After a while, I asked my brother to look out for her. He found her at the pastor's house again. When he got to his house, the pastor caught him and beat him, then chased him away. He left from there, but didn't report to me how he went.
"Some minutes later, my daughter returned and was crying. She looked weak and was behaving very abnormal. Then I asked my brother's wife to check her properly. She did and discovered some semen drops and blood stains on her laps. She asked her what happened, and she said it was the pastor that did it."
That was when it dawned on the landlord that something was amiss. He became angry.
"Then I went to confront the pastor at home. He didn't deny. He told me it was devil's work. I returned and took my daughter to the hospital. The pastor continued following me, begging me not to tell anybody because it was devil's work. He also told me not to report the matter to the police. People gathered around us. In the hospital, a nurse checked her and shouted that he penetrated her. When I wanted to go to the police station, I told the people around to hold him for me. Then I reported to the police station at Masaka. They came and arrested him."
He said it beats his imagination that a pastor who was almost a member of his family could do that. He said his children called the pastor 'uncle'.
"They don't know he is not their relative. They accord him the same recognition they accord to us their parents. This pastor has a wife and even grand-children although he lives alone. Currently, the matter is at the police station while my daughter was taking to the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, for examination. The first result showed that the pastor tested negative to HIV. We are still expecting other results."
When our correspondent went to Masaka police station, the pastor was visible in the cell begging for forgiveness.
"It is Satan. I never had an affair with any woman except my wife since I became a pastor. I have been in the vineyard of the Lord winning souls for Him. I wonder how Satan got me so cheap. I know it is a trial and I must overcome it," he said from his police cell.
Mr Yerima, confirmed to our reporter on phone that Pastor Paul has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and he is to pay to the sum N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira after he has finished serving his prison term. " I am not happy with this judgement" he said.
Would you forgive the pastor and ask the court to release him?
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Go overdrive in purchasing the goods when there's blood on the streets, expecially if the blood is your own