A Catholic priest from Nigeria sued his church on allegations of impregnating a lady.
The priest, Charles Oyebade, has lodged the case since 2018 at Ekpoma High Court, Edo State, South-South Nigeria, after an alleged sexual affair with a lady named Cynthia Nnaji and had been indefinitely suspended by the church.
The Catholic Church attempted to prevent the court from hearing the case, stating that before going to court, the priest did not exhaust the inner dispute resolution processes within the church.
However, the judge, J. O. Okeaya-Inneh On April 16 this year ruled that the case should continue.
Catholic priests willingly submit to a celibacy oath that prohibits sex.
Mr. Oyebade, the embattled priest, belongs within the Catholic Church to the Order of Discalced Carmelite, a sect that has chosen a secluded life dedicated to prayer. In November 2014, he was ordained a priest.
The priest declined that he was liable for the pregnancy of Ms Nnaji or that he had sex with her.
He is in court to challenge the Order of Discalced Carmelite’s suspension.
The other participants in the situation, apart from Ms. Nnaji, are the Discalced Carmelite Order and a priest, Canice-Mary Azuoma, who is the Order’s regional vicar in Nigeria.
According to a court report, Ms Nnaji revealed to the Catholic Church in 2017 that she was pregnant for the reverend father.
But the priest informed the court, through his attorney, that without granting him a fair hearing and without undertaking a pregnancy and paternity test as requested by him, the church hurriedly suspended him.
The priest informed the court that the vicar, Mr. Azuoma, instantly gave Ms. Nnaji N450,000 the allegation against him (Mr. Oyebade) in what he referred to as a“set-up.”
He also informed the court that Ms Nnaji was sending him text messages, confessing she was lying that she was pregnant.
Justice Okeaya-Inneh, while dismissing the Order of Discalced Carmelite’s preliminary objection, said that the Nigerian constitution that ensures Mr Oyebade’s right to seek redress prevails when it conflicts with the constitution and norms of the Order and the Codes of Canon Law.
