Police arrest Ebonyi Bishop over alleged sexual abuse of 22-year-old … as Cleric promises 7-day sex ‘ll cure victim of sickle cell. By Betty Jones

Police arrest Ebonyi Bishop over alleged sexual abuse of 22-year-old

… as Cleric promises 7-day sex ‘ll cure victim of sickle cell

The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested Bishop Samuel Onyeagoziri, General Overseer of Champions of the Truth Church, over allegations of sexual abuse made by a 22-year-old congregant, Euphemia Ede.

Ede accused the cleric of subjecting her to years of sexual exploitation under the guise of offering “divine healing” for her sickle cell condition.

Police spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu, confirmed the arrest to journalists in Abakaliki on Friday.

He disclosed that the bishop was apprehended on Wednesday and remains in custody while investigators build their case.

“The General Overseer was arrested on Wednesday, and he has been in our custody.

“We have commenced an investigation, and he will definitely be arraigned upon the conclusion of our findings,” Ukandu stated.

The arrest follows a viral podcast interview and videos circulating online, in which Ms Ede, visibly emotional, accused the cleric of manipulation, threats, and repeated sexual abuse.

During the interview, she revealed that she had lost three siblings to sickle cell complications, a tragedy that left her parents desperate for a solution.

” In their search, they were introduced to Bishop Onyeagoziri, who offered what he described as a “spiritual remedy.”

Instead of prayers, however, the bishop allegedly demanded that she sleep with him for seven consecutive days, promising that her genotype would miraculously change from SS to AA.

“He told me that once he sleeps with me for seven days, my genotype would change.

” He even claimed that many people had been healed that way. I was desperate, my parents were desperate, and so I had no option. He is the one who broke my virginity,” she recounted in tears.

According to Ede, she was still in Senior Secondary School 3 at the time and terrified of dying young, which left her vulnerable to the preacher’s manipulation.

She said that despite repeated sexual encounters with the cleric, her condition never improved.

Instead, her crises worsened while she remained trapped in his house under constant threats.

Ede further alleged that Onyeagoziri, also known as Ndubueze Onyeagoziri Okorie, threatened her with a rifle and forced her to pose for nude photographs.

“People see those pictures and say I was smiling, but they don’t know it was out of fear.

He said if I didn’t obey, he would kill me and no one would know what happened,” she explained.

She maintained that she had been pleading with the cleric since 2021 to delete the explicit images, but he refused.

“It is not AI-generated. I am the girl in that video. I have been begging him to delete it since 2021, but he refused.

“Now he is lying to cover up,” she said, referring to an explicit video of her that surfaced online.

Between 2021 and 2025, Ede said she made several attempts to leave the cleric’s residence but was consistently threatened, with warnings that harm would come to her and her family if she disobeyed.

Matters escalated in 2025 when the bishop allegedly demanded to marry her, despite already being married.

The revelations have triggered outrage across Ebonyi State and beyond, with residents, rights activists, and women’s groups urging the police and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to ensure justice is served.

Just last week, explicit images involving the bishop and Ede went viral online.

While the cleric denied the images, claiming they were fabricated with artificial intelligence by “detractors” to discredit his ministry, Ede insisted the images were real and taken by the bishop himself during her years of captivity.