Bianca Ojukwu raises alarm over Nigerian Pastor Egbaji held for rape in Benin Republic

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has raised an alarm over the deplorable condition of a Nigerian pastor, Benjamin Egbaji, held for rape in the Benin Republic.

Ms. Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in a statement, disclosed that Pastor Benjamin Egbaji, who hails from Cross River State, is being tried for allegedly raping a 13-year-old.

She further disclosed that he had been held for two years under “unclear circumstances”.

Pastor Egbaji faces poor health

The minister said the cleric now faced very severe ill-health for which he is currently being treated at the Central National Hospital Universitaire, Benin Republic.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said she visited Egbaji together with her team from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and staff of the Nigerian Embassy in the Republic of Benin.

She said she was shaken by what she saw at the hospital ward in Cotonou, where Egbaji is receiving treatment.

The minister said that despite the man’s poor state of health, he was still put in shackles on the hospital bed.

She recalled that Egbaji broke down in tears when she saw her and her team.

Ms Ojukwu said she gave her word to the embattled cleric that the Nigerian government would intervene in his case.

Allegations against him

According to the minister, the pastor ran into troubled waters when a citizen of the Benin Republic, Pede Victoire, claimed that Benjamin raped her daughter, Ahouandjinou Dona Sarah, when she was just 13 years old.

She added that the victim or anyone else did not report the alleged crime at the time. Neither has any evidence been adduced to corroborate the claims, she added.

Ms Ojukwu said the alleged victim, Sarah, even later stepped forward to refute any claim of rape.

An appeal has now been filed, apparently on the strength of the words of the alleged victim.

The minister said citizen diplomacy was at the core of the foreign policy thrust of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

She said the president had mandated them to make the interests and welfare of Nigerian nationals in distress their critical priority, wherever they may be, outside the shores of their homeland.

The minister said all avenues would be explored to get justice for the detained cleric.