A 16-year-old girl who was raped by a choirmaster under the guise of a deliverance session has seen her abuser sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Anambra State High Court 2, Ogidi Judicial Division.
Justice Chudi Nwankwo convicted James Onuorah, a choirmaster and church teacher at Iba Pope Parish, Awada, on two counts bordering on rape and offensive conduct, contrary to Section 3(1)(a) & (2) and Section 7 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition and Protection) Law of Anambra State, 2017.
The judgment, delivered on Friday in a case marked HID/4C/2025 and made available to our correspondent on Sunday in Awka, followed a trial in which the prosecution, led by M.C. Ikeabunze and Nkiru Nzekwu, called four witnesses.
The court heard that Onuorah had convinced the victim’s mother that her daughters were tormented by “marine spirits and spiritual husbands” and required deliverance at his residence on Amanafor Street, Awada. Trusting his standing as a cleric, the woman allowed her daughters to attend prayer sessions at his home.
It was during one such session that the defendant allegedly ordered the teenager to undress, telling her it was “the direction of the Holy Spirit,” before sexually assaulting her under the pretext of curing fibroids supposedly caused by a spiritual husband. The victim later became pregnant and put to bed in April 2026, with her hospital discharge document tendered as evidence.
A similar allegation involving the victim’s elder sister formed the third count on the charge sheet, but the court discharged and acquitted Onuorah on that count, ruling that the prosecution could not establish the alleged 2014 incident in the absence of any formal report or complaint at the time.
Onuorah denied all the allegations during cross-examination, and his purported confessional statement was thrown out by the court for breaching Section 13 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Anambra State.
Justice Nwankwo, however, held that the victim's testimony as the fourth prosecution witness was "direct, consistent and unshaken" under cross-examination, and that the pregnancy and subsequent delivery served as strong corroborating evidence.
While the prosecution had pushed for the mandatory life sentence prescribed under the state's VAPP Law, along with restitution for the victim, the defendant pleaded for leniency in his allocutus.
Delivering sentence, the judge handed Onuorah 25 years for rape and seven years for offensive conduct, to run concurrently, and ordered him to pay ₦5 million in compensation to the victim.
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