Two Reverend Sisters in Awka, the Anambra State Capital, on Monday, May 13 have been remanded in State Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Akwa.
The two Reverend Sisters of a first generational church (name withheld) were remanded by the Children, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Court. They are in court for illegal dealings and fraudulent adoption of children.
According to PUNCH the names of the Reverend Sisters were given as Angela Onyenachi Ibe, aged 42, and Mother-General, Reverend Sister Chiemelie Jacinta Yvonne, aged 41.
The duos were arraigned on four counts of conspiracy, obtaining by false pretense, punishable under Sections 495(a) and 386 of the Criminal Code, Cap 36, Volume II, the Revised Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria, 1991.
The Reverend Sisters were also charged with illegal dealings with children as well as fraudulent adoption. And this act is punishable under Section 30(2)(b) of the Child’s Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004.
According to PUNCH, when the charge was read to the defendants, they each, pleaded not guilty to the offences.
Responding to questions during the arraignment, the two defendants stated that they both hail from Imo State. The claimed to belong to a congregation, known as the St. Francis of Compassion, also based in Imo State.
The duos also added that they were staff members and attendants at the Sam Damian Community Children’s and Old People’s Home, located at Obosi in Anambra State.
However, the counsel to the defendants prayed the honourable court to grant bail to the defendants. He stated that the prayer is based on the grounds that the duos were Reverend Sisters of a first-generation church. He maintained that they would religiously attend their trials, whenever called upon to appear before the court.
But the presiding Chief Magistrate, Genevieve C. Osakwe, rejecting the plea, described the ground of the bail application as very weak. She stated that it is unknown to law.
Delivering her judgment, the Magistrate frowned upon and vehemently bemoaned the development. She frowned at what she termed “the rising cases of illegal adoption and dealings on children in Awka, Anambra State.
She, therefore, called on the security agencies in the State, especially, the police authorities, to extend their search in every nook and cranny of the State.
The Magistrate urged the police to arrest, and prosecute all persons involved in the adoption of children in the State. She said the police should go after managements of illegal community children’s and old people’s homes, across the State.”
The case was therefore adjourned further to May 29 and June 26, 2024, for a definite hearing. The court, therefore, ordered the defendants be remanded at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka.
source: PUNCH