A’Ibom Cleric gets 21 years imprisonment for defiling 10-year-old stepdaughter

Udeme Utip, Uyo

A cleric of a new generation church, Restoration Bible Church, Prophet Anwana Peter Essien is to spent his next 21 years behind bars, for defiling his 10-year-old step daughter.

The Prophet, a native of Afaha Ise in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, whose Church is at Itiam Street, Uyo, Akwa Ibom, defiled his victim, a JSS 1 student on 9th August, 2019, when her mother brought her and her younger sister for holiday to their stepfather’s house.

The convict who admitted to the crime said that the “devil pushed him at midnight to forcefully have a carnal knowledge of his step daughter.”

Delivering the judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Okon Okon, condemned the act in its entirety and held that the confession was direct and unequivocal that the convict committed the crime.

According to the Judge, the evidence of prosecution witnesses such as the medical report and the confessional statement have proven beyond reasonable doubt that the convict was guilty of the crime.

While committing him into prison for 21 years, justice Okon said it was with effect from the time the convict was taken into custody in the Uyo Custodial Centre.