PASTOR IS REMANDED TO PRISON BY A RIVERS COURT FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT

Tunji Wusu –

As the pastor enters a guilty plea to a single count of sexual abuse

The resident pastor of Glorious Covenant Church, Pastor Piller Erekwa, has been remanded to the Port Harcourt jail facility for sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl in the Emohua council of Rivers State, according to Chief Magistrate Ogeh Elkanah of the Rivers State family court.

The Pastor was sent to the Port Harcourt jail facility until his July 19, 2023 sentencing.

At the Magistrate Court 1 in Port Harcourt yesterday, the accused—a father of six—pleaded guilty to the one count of sexual abuse that the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) had brought against him.

Piller Erekwa was charged with sexually abusing a fifteen-year-old girl in the Ndele village of Mgbuola between December 2022 and January 2023, an offense that is prohibited by Rivers State law.

Magistrate Ogeh Elkanah set the matter for fact-finding and sentencing on July 19, 2023.

Recall that Pastor Erekwa was detained by the Rumuji Police Division on Thursday of last week at Ndele and thereafter handed over to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for additional investigation.

Prince Wiro, the national coordinator of the Center for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, applauded the police for presenting the suspect to a judge in the interim.

Mr. Wiro also applauded the victim’s family for resisting pressure to settle the lawsuit without going to trial.