Court remands cleric of defiling 14-year-old

An Abuja High Court has ordered the remand of a cleric, Amos Isah, founder and General Overseer of Prophetic Voice of Fire Ministry International in Gwagwalada, pending verification of a bail previously granted him by another high court.

Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi, who gave the order on Thursday, directed that Isah be held at the Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Kuje, FCT, and ordered his counsel to produce documentation of the earlier bail before the next hearing.

The prosecution alleged that Isah lured a 14-year-old girl to his office on the church premises and defiled her, in contravention of Sections 3, 4 and 14 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015. Isah pleaded not guilty to eight counts of defilement.

The defendant was first arrested in June 2025 and arraigned on July 22, 2025 before vacation judge Justice J.E. Obanor at a high court in Maitama, where he also entered a not guilty plea. The case was reassigned to Justice Osho-Adebiyi on March 11 following an application by prosecution counsel Aderonke Imana.

At Thursday’s proceedings, defence counsel O.U. Sule, SAN, informed the court that his client had been granted bail by a sister court and requested that Isah be released on his own recognisance. Justice Osho-Adebiyi declined, noting that neither the bail record nor the sureties’ documentation was before the court.

“His record of surety is not before the court; if I tell him to go, who am I releasing him to?” the judge said.

When Sule pressed for an oral bail application, prosecution counsel Imana opposed it, citing a concurrent appearance before another court. The judge further noted that the sureties were absent and their documents unavailable, and ordered the defendant remanded accordingly.

Justice Osho-Adebiyi directed defence counsel to notify the registrar when the necessary documents are ready and adjourned the matter until June 30 for commencement of trial.