Two Reverend Sisters of the Roman Catholic Church were on Monday, remanded in police custody by the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court of Anambra State, sitting in Awka, the state capital.
The Reverend Sisters- Reverend Sister Angela Onyenachi Ibe, aged, 42, and Mother-General, Reverend Sister Chiemelie Jacinta Yvonne, aged, 41, were arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining by 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.
They also face charges of illegal dealings on Children, as well as, fraudulent adoption, punishable under section 30(2)(b) of the Child’s Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004.
According to the prosecuting police officer who filed the charge, “the defendants were alleged to have fraudulently collected, from their unsuspecting victims, huge sums of money, ranging between four million naira and one million, five hundred thousand naira, paid into the Zenith Bank account, belonging to the Sam Damian Community Children’s and Old People’s Home, under the guise of perfecting adoption for the complainants.”
However, when the charge was read to the defendants, to the satisfaction of the Court, they each, pleaded not guilty of the offenses.
Responding to questions during the arraignment, the two Reverend sisters stated that they both hailed from Imo State and belonged to a Catholic Congregation, known as the St. Francis of Compassion, also based in Imo State; adding 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.
Counsel to the defendants had in an application, prayed the Court to grant bail to the Reverend sisters, on the ground that they were Reverend sisters of the Roman Catholic Church, and would religiously attend their trials, whenever called upon to appear before the Court.
Delivering a Ruling on the bail application, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Genevieve C. Osakwe, described the ground of bail application as very weak, and unknown to Law.
The Court frowned at and vehemently bemoaned what she termed, the rising cases of illegal adoption and dealings on children, in Anambra State, and called on the security agencies in the state, especially, the police authorities, to extend their search, arrest, and prosecution of all persons involved in the management of illegal Community Children’s and Old People’s Homes, across the state.
The case was adjourned further to the 29th day of May and 26th day of June 2024, for a definite hearing, and the Court ordered that the defendants be remanded at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Awka.
