The story of the 40-yearold pastor who beat his two children so brutally with cable, leaving severe marks all over their bodycontinues to elicit widespread condemnation, as the man at the centre of it all has now been arrested in Jos by the officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in collaboration with Social Welfare Department of Jos South Local Government of Plateau State.
The pastor known as Christopher Sule who has engaged in this bestial act for a period of three years is said to be chaplain in Bima a private hospital and also claimed to be a Pastor with ECWA Bishara (1) Bukuru and currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary in Plateau State.
He hails from Wamba Local Government of Nassarawa State and has been handed over to the Nigerian Police Force in Jos Saturday Telegraph checks show that the pastor regularly beat his two daughters, ages eight and six, as as a result of their inability to recite what they were taught in school as well as stealing meat from the pot of soup at home due to his excessive anger.
However the management of the children’s school last week noticed several lacerations on their bodies as result of thee severe beating over a minor issue and the school quickly reported the incident to the NSCDC in Jos South Local Government secretariat and the father was apprehended for interrogation.
Wife of the pastor, Mrs Racheal Christopher, 35, and an NCE Holder teaching in one of the primary schools in Bukuru had also received a share of the treatment for coming to the rescue of her daughters.
The pathetic story of the two female children is heart wrenching given the extent of the injuries inflicted on them.
While narrating their ordeal to Saturday Telegraph in Jos, the mother could not hold back tears as she recounted the constant beating and harassment she and her daughters had endured.
“For the past three years, we have been in bondage and under the yoke of maltreatment by my husband who under slight provocation would descend on me and the children and beat us to pulp.
I had reported the issue to my family but my husband would always ask for forgiveness with a promise not to do so again,” she said.
“My husband was arrested and taken to the local government secretariat; although he had been beating them the last one was so terrible that I had to struggle with him to rescue the children. But I got the beating of my life in the process.
The beating has become so rampant that the people in the neighbourhood no longer intervene,” she claimed. She revealed that she had threatened several times to park out of her matrimonial home along with her children but was often prevailed upon by family members to stay for the sake of the kids and to pray for her husband to turn a new leaf.
She added: “It is like my husband is under a spell or spiritual attack. After my husband carried out this evil act, he always came back, pleading and telling me to pray for him because he did not know what came upon him. We have fasted and prayed together over this issue.”
While speaking Saturday Telegraph on the circumstances leading to his action, Sule said he could not justify his action and confessed that he flogged his daughters more than the offence they committed.
“I don’t know what really came upon me; although I had been beating them that way for the past three years I always regretted my action.
By nature I am temperamental and also have excessive anger, but I need deliverance,” he said. The pastor who couldn’t control his tears, admitted beating his daughters and told Saturday Telegraph in Jos that he flogged them when they could not recollect what they were taught in school and also for stealing meat in the soup.
He pleaded for mercy, promising to love his children. Chief Social Welfare Officer of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State where the incident was reported, Mr Ancha Adik Jonathan, told Saturday Telegraph in his office in Jos that the arrest of the pastor followed a tip off by the management of the school the two children attended after the discovery of several injuries on the children by the head teacher.
He said: “The head teacher of Salvation Kingdom Academy the school the children attend noticed the injuries of the beating and alerted us at the Social Welfare department because she an advocate of child protection.
Following her information and based on the child right law that had been domesticated in Plateau State we had to immediately request the service of the men of NSCDC to arrest the man, and even when we got to his house we discovered he also locked his daughter who is just over a year in a room and went to the bush to look for firewood without minding what will happen to the child.
“So, the magnitude of his offence was too heavy and we had to immediately take over the custody of his three children including his wife because there is Christian Centre called Queens that we are collaborate with on issues of child abuse and other family related issues.”
Mr. Jonathan disclosed that the pastor worships with ECWA Bishara in Bukuru where he had preached on several occasions.
“We will ensure that the man face the full wrath of the law to serve as deterrence to all other persons in the society; already he had been handed over to the Police and very soon he will be charged to court” he said.
The Management Committee Chairman of Jos North Local Government, Comrade Augustine Pwakim, who confirmed the incident, said the council would henceforth collaborate with Child Protection Agency and State Ministry of Women Affairs to enlighten parents on the danger of child abuse. Comrade Pwakim said Pastor Christopher had been handed to relevant law enforcement agencies for prosecution to serve as a deterrence to others.
Meanwhile the Plateau State Coordinator Child right Protection Network Mr Tony Obemeasor has given assurance that the children will be taken to hospital for checkup and treatment for trauma as result of the repeated beatings.