General Overseer, Tongue of Fire Restoration
Ministry, Chukwuma Nkwocha, is now in the
custody of police in Lagos for allegedly camping
about 30 young girls as sex slaves.
The 38-year-old Nkwocha, whose church is
located at Sogunle area of Lagos metropolis, was
accused of sleeping with the young girls, whose
ages range from 10 to 15 years.
The state Police Public Relations Officer
(PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest
of the GO. The PPRO said the Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, had ordered
investigation into the case. She said: “The
command rescued about 30 young girls from the
pastor’s custody.
Two of them acknowledged he had carnal
knowledge of them. However, investigation is
ongoing.”
Nkwocha, according to investigation,
was addressing the congregation on Tuesday
evening when policemen from Special Anti-
Robbery Squad (SARS) stormed the church. The
GO stopped the service when the policemen
introduced themselves.
They whisked away the pastor and the girls.
When our correspondent visited the church
yesterday, some members of the church looked
dejected. They, however, denied that the pastor
was sleeping with the girls.
The GO’s younger brother, Mr. Ikechukwu
Nkwocha, said he was surprised when someone
from the church called him on the phone that the
pastor had been arrested for rape.
He said:
“We don’t live in the same house; I cannot
speak on what I don’t know. It is only God
Almighty that knows everything that
transpired between my brother and the
girls.
“He is such a nice person. When some
of the girls come to the church and
complain of accommodation, he always
comes to their aid by providing them an
apartment in his house.
“The pastor is my blood brother. It was
God who called him. Even as part of his
efforts to alleviate the suffering of some of
his church members, he is paying their
school fees.
“He also registered some of them for
the General Certificate Examination (GCE)
and the West Africa Examination Council
(WAEC)-conducted Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE).
He is only assisting them; why should they
pay him back in this form?” Ikechukwu alleged
that one of the girls, who the GO chased out,
wrote a petition to the police.
He added: “It was the petition which led to the
arrest of my brother.
The girl was brought to the church by a
member after complaining of accommodation
problem to that person. After a while, she started
misbehaving in the church; that was why my
brother sent her away.”
Ikechukwu also said that the policemen had
searched Nkwocha’s house and no incriminating
thing was found in his apartment. He said: “I
believe it was because she was sent away from
the house that made her to write the petition
against the man of God.”
A resident, who did not want her name in print,
alleged that the pastor used the opportunity of
providing the girls accommodation to rape them.
She said: “Bubble burst when one of the girls,
Evelyn, who was chased away by the pastor for
resisting his advances, reported the matter to the
police.
“What we normally observe in the community
is that, whenever there is a programme in the
church, even on Sundays, girls are usually
brought to the church in different commercial
buses.”
Another resident, Mr. Taoreed Ajao, said they
were tired of the “unruly behaviour” of the pastor
in the area. He said: “Whenever they have their
vigil in the church, they always increase the
volume of their loud speakers which is affecting
every resident.
Hardly would a day pass that they would not
have a programme in the church. Government
should come to our rescue and regulate the
activities of the church
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