A Catholic priest is being made to pay for his criminal act after he was found out to have forced a girl into having s*x.
Rev. fr Anthony Ochigbo, a Catholic priest has been re-arraigned in court by the police in FCT on Tuesday over a grievous crime he committed.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ochigbo is charged with r*ping a 10-year-old girl.
Ochigbo appeared before an FCT High Court in Maitama, where Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf adopted the bail conditions previously given him.
The re-arraignment was due to the transfer of the case to Baba-Yusuf from Justice Olukayode Adeniyi.
NAN reports that Ochigbo was arraigned before Adeniyi on Aug. 30 during court vacation. Adeniyi granted the cleric bail in the sum of two million naira and two sureties, who must be on Grade Level 14 and above in public service.
The prosecution counsel, Mr John Ijagbemi, submitted on Tuesday that 44-year-old Ochigbo, of the Catholic Church of Assumption, Asokoro, Abuja, s*xually abused the girl on Aug. 15.
He said that Ochigbo had unlawful s*xual intercourse with the child inside the church after forcing her, in contravention of the provisions of Section 31(1) of the Child Rights Act, 2003, and punishable under Sections 32(2) of the Act.
Ochigbo, however, pleaded not guilty.
His counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN) applied for his bail and prayed the court to allow him to continue on the existing bail conditions.
Objecting, Ijagbemi submitted that the cleric was re-arraigned, and that the court could give fresh bail conditions.
The case has been adjourned till Jan. 31 for substantive trial.
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