A 63-year-old pastor has been arrested and arraigned by the Enugu State Police Command on charges of raping two sisters aged 16 and 19 years.

The suspect, Luke Eze, was arrested on Thursday, September 11, by operatives of the Iwollo Police Division following a report made by the victims’ parent, as reported by Daniel Ndukwe, the command’s spokesperson.

According to police investigations, Pastor Eze lured the 16-year-old girl to his church, City of Hope Ministry, also known as “Ọkụ Night,” located in the Okunito-Amansiodo area of the Oghe community in Ezeagu Local Government Area, for what he claimed was a deliverance session.

During the session, he allegedly made the girl pound an empty mortar as part of a ritual before giving her a liquid substance that caused her to lose consciousness. He then reportedly raped her.

When the girl did not return home, her 19-year-old sister went to the church in search of her. She was also subjected to the same ritual and drugged with the same substance before being raped.

“Both victims regained consciousness the following afternoon, September 8, to find themselves naked, with bloodstains on their private parts and other physical evidence of the assault,” Ndukwe disclosed.

Ndukwe said the police force recovered two plastic bottles containing the unidentified substance the suspect administered to the victims for forensic analysis.

Pastor Eze confessed to the crimes, claiming that “the devil” was responsible for his actions, the policeman added.

He has since been arraigned in court and remanded in correctional custody after investigations were concluded by the Gender and Anti-Human Trafficking Section of the State CID.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, has condemned the act as abominable and senseless, cautioning parents and the public against falling prey to criminal elements masquerading as spiritual leaders.

Giwa assures the public of the Command’s commitment to ensuring justice is served in the case