BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has ordered the remand of a 41-year-old evangelist, David Mbah, in custody of correctional centre for allegedly raping a teenage girl during an indoor ‘deliverance session.’
Mbah was said to have been allowed by the victim’s mother to carry out deliverance for the 15-year-girl who was detected by the cleric to be suffering from ‘spirit husband’.
When he arrived at the victim’s house in Uburu community in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on December 8, 2023, to cast out the alleged demon making the girl susceptible to ‘spirit husband control’, Mbah was led inside the girl’s room by her mother and left them there for the prayer session.
According to the victim’s brother, simply identified as Tochukwu Ngene, the “deliverance session” was suddenly interrupted by their curious mother who barged into the room, and discovered that her child had been sexually abused by the self-acclaimed cleric.
It was gathered that residents in the area attacked Mbah, beat him up before handing him over to the police in the community.
Ngene, in an interview with The Point, blamed his mother for welcoming the suspect into their home, saying Mbah had instructed his younger sibling to remove her clothes before he could cast out the alleged evil spirit in her.
“I blame my mother for this problem because she is the one that allowed an unknown person into our house in the name of deliverance. She said that in the course of the prayer, he (Mbah) convinced her that my sister has a spirit husband that has to be cast out when only him and my junior sister were in her room. With the approval of my mother, the little girl allowed him in for the deliverance and obeyed all he instructed her including removing her clothes.
“My sister said that on removing the clothes as instructed, Mbah jumped on her and raped her despite her cry. According to her, my mother who was aware of the prayer session having waited for some time suddenly entered the room and saw the pastor taking advantage of her sexually and raised the alarm,” he narrated.
Alleging that Mbah confessed to alleged sexual assault after he was caught, Ngene said, “Don’t mind his (Mbah) look and peaceful disposition here, he admitted to the crime and pleaded we name our price to end the case, before we decided not to take laws into our hands by reporting it officially to the police for prosecution.”
Meanwhile, the police arraigned Mbah after completion of investigation.
Police Prosecutor, ASP Chinagorom Ezeh presented a charge sheet in court and it read, “The charge said, “That you David Mbah, on the 8th day of December 2023, at Uburu Ohaozara in the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did intentionally penetrate the vaginal of one (name withheld), 15 years old girl at Obiagu Uburu with your penis without her consent and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 4 (2)(1) of VAPP Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2018.”
The plea of the defendant who had no legal representation could not be taken because of the severity of the charge.
Hence, the trial Magistrate, Lynda Ogodo ordered Mbah’s remand in Nigerian Correctional Centre, Abakaliki and also ordered that the original case file, evidence and all other documents relating to the matter be transferred to the Department of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
In an interview with The Point after arraignment, Mbah claimed the allegation was aimed at stopping “God’s work” and tarnishing his image.
According to him, “I am a non-denominational evangelist from Aninri in Enugu State. I go about delivering people from bondage of satan. The allegation against me was a frame-up. Can you imagine, they stripped me naked and beat me like a thief? This knickers I am wearing was given to me by the police, it is not mine because it was torn into pieces. They just want to mess me up and stop my ministry.”
