A sickle cell patient has accused a well-known cleric, Bishop Samuel Onyeagoziri, of deceiving her into having sex with him under the claim that it would cure her condition.
Onyeagoziri is the General Overseer of Champions of the Truth Church in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
The victim, speaking on a podcast, said the bishop had been having sexual relations with her since 2021, when she was still in secondary school. Her account surfaced shortly after a sex tape involving both of them went viral. While Mr. Onyeagoziri dismissed the tape as an ‘AI manipulation,’ she insisted otherwise.
‘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.
The 22-year-old, who has lost three siblings to sickle cell complications, explained that her parents introduced her to the cleric as they searched for a solution to save her life. According to her, he promised healing but allegedly demanded that she sleep with him for seven consecutive days.
‘He told me that once he sleeps with me (for) seven days, my genotype will change from SS to AA. He even said many people had been healed that way. I was desperate, my parents were desperate, and so I had no option. He is the one that broke my virginity,’ she recalled.
She said her health did not improve, but instead worsened, even as she remained in the bishop’s house under threats.
She also alleged that he threatened her life with a rifle and forced her to take nude pictures.
‘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 said.
According to her, attempts to leave between 2021 and 2025 were blocked by the cleric, who allegedly threatened both her and her family. Matters escalated this year when he reportedly demanded to marry her despite already being married and much older.
Meanwhile, Onyeagoziri, who denied having any sexual intercourse with the victim, said his phone was stolen and those who stole the phone used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to post his ‘doctored’ nudity with that of the girl.
He said, ‘My phone was stolen earlier this month, and after all efforts by those in possession of the phone to extort me failed, they resorted to denting my image. Those pictures you see are doctored. They aren’t real.’
However, Onyeagoziri was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Abakaliki. Journalists saw him at the state police headquarters on Thursday writing a statement at the Crack Team’s office.
The state police spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu, confirmed the arrest.
‘(The) investigation is ongoing. So, he is with the police,’ he said.