Pastor, Undergraduate, Others Arrested For Rape, Cultism In Cross River

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The Cross River State Police Command has paraded the pastor in charge of the Gate of Testimony Church, Hosanna Okoi, for allegedly raping a lady and threatening to kill her with a gun if she revealed what transpired between them.

Also paraded on Thursday after he was arrested with arms and a soldier’s uniform was a 400-level student of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Calabar, Nnamdi Ikezue.

Ikezue confessed that he was a cultist and was using a locally-made pistol to protect himself.

Twenty-three other suspects were arrested for various crimes.

Out of the number, nine were arrested for alleged involvement in robbery attacks in various locations across the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Austin Agbonlahor, said Okoi, who claimed that his church was located in Sierra Leone, was arrested after a lady reported to the police that a pastor, who was supposed to pray for her, allegedly raped her and threatened her with a gun not to report the incident.

Okoi, however, said he only took the lady, whom he claimed was unknown to him, to a wedding and later to a pub.

He stated, “I am a Nigerian, but I am the pastor of the Gate of Testimony Church based in Sierra Leone. I came to Nigeria and I met the lady, who said she was going to a wedding.

“I did not know her from Adam, but I offered to take her there and gave her N500 to drink water. Later, we met at a pub and we drank and that was all that happened. I did not take her to anywhere and I don’t know why she decided to frame me up.”

Ikezue, on his part, said, “I am having the army uniform because I was at the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, before I got admission into the University of Calabar to study Medicine and Surgery in 2014.

“I am a cultist and I still use the military uniform and my gun, which I acquired to protect myself.”

He blamed the devil for his ordeal, saying, “At the level I am now, I am not supposed to be in the cult.”

Agbonlahor appealed to parents to monitor their children, saying the police would do everything to ensure that the society was rid of criminals.

He stated, “We will continue to ensure that we take out criminals from the society. This command has declared zero tolerance for crime and since I came in, we have been doing everything to make sure that the state is crime-free.

“I want parents to monitor their children and wards in order to know what they are doing at every point in time.”