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BY VICTOR UGBORGU
The Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri seems to be in a dilemma over what to do with recalcitrant priests who keep young girls in their parishes in the name of “Rev father’s daughters”, with its unhealthy attachment and confusion.
The Archdiocese is also battling with those priests who turned their rectory into private houses, without realizing that such environments are not meant for growing vulnerable hearts.
Not only that, there’s growing concern about priests who indulge in sexual immorality, despite complaints from parishioners.
For instance, Cornelius Amadi, parish priest of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Umuodagu Ntu, Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo State, has been in the eye of the storm for the past one year, Cornelius Amadi his alleged uncontrollable sexual immorality with teenage girls and married women.
It was gathered that many parishioners had in the past protested against such behavior, while others resorted to petition writing against him. They all wanted him removed from the parish.
In a petition by one Patrick Nkwocha to the Archbishop of Owerri archdiocese and copied to this publication and five other newspapers, the petitioner decried what he called “sex scandals, escapades and exploits” of Fr. Amadi.
According to him, “from young girls to married women, this priest has exhibited lack of discipline as he engages in all manners of sex, without recourse to the consequences among Catholic men and women and the villagers, who have continued to make a jest of him anytime he passes through the villages.”
Nkwocha condemned Fr. Amadi’s intimate relationship with one Ifunanya, who was 15 years when he came to the parish. In his words, “immediately he stepped into Umuodagu Ntu and saw this girl, he threw caution to the winds, in a bid to satisfy his sexual desire. He removed the presiding president of Mary League…and replaced her with Ifunanya, to enable him have unlimited access to her.”
Nkwocha claimed in his petition that Fr. Amadi made himself a laughing stock by not only sleeping with the teenager, but also was in the habit of taking his bath with her.
He also mentioned other teenagers and married women like Favour, Ogechi, Chinwe and Nkechi (surnames withheld).
Nkwocha, therefore, asked the Archbishop to call Fr. Amadi to order “before he goes offline.”
On November 30, 2025, the magazine confronted the priest with the accusations against him. For five minutes, he was uneasy, sweating profusely while reading the petition.
When he eventually recovered from the shock, his response was disgusting and unbecoming of a Catholic priest.
He admitted that he knew almost all the people mentioned in the petition. According to him, there was a time he invited Mrs. Ogechi to the parish house, to help him buy some food stuffs for him. Unknown to him, the woman came with a commercial motorcyclist, who incidentally is her husband. “After spending a considerable length of time with her, the ‘Okada man’ was enraged and started telling me to leave his wife for him. I later found out that Mrs. Ogechi came with her husband.”
In the case of Ifunanya, Fr. Amadi denied ever sleeping with her. “Have seen the girl called Ifunanya? No sensible man will like to sleep with such a dirty and shapeless girl.” However, he could not explain why he made Ifunanya president of Mary League, instead of allowing the girls to choose their leaders.
He also told this publication that he was not in talking terms with Mrs. Chinwe, “because she was not happy that I helped some with finance. She also wanted to impose herself on me.”
“There’s this woman whose husband lives abroad, who came to me to assist her with N30,000 to do her hair, finger nails and so on, to enable her look good for a burial outing. I obliged her. This was what infuriated Mrs. Chinwe to accuse me of choosing a woman friend, just few weeks after my resumption as parish priest. Ever since then, we’ve not been relating well,” Fr. Amadi said.
He also denied having carnal knowledge of the under aged girls mentioned in the petition.
He asked this publication to “kill” the story because of the “explosive and weighty” nature of the accusations.
Indeed, he made efforts to “kill” the story, but when found out that the stake was high, he started sending unsettling, abusive and cryptic messages to this publication and other newspapers. Between December 4 and 7, 2025, he sent messages in which he tried to justify his amorous conducts in the parish.
“I don’t need to stop anyone for any publication against me. What’s the interest of the petitioner and what will be his gain to disgrace me? If you and other Journalists need Pope’s address, you should inquire from me. I’ll give it to you and them.”
He also sent some other irrelevant analogies and incoherent stories and a video, depicting his character. In the video, a priest (like him) fell into a drainage having been carried away by the sight of a beautiful woman.
He has also indulged in threats and intimidation. He has reached out to his victims, their parents and husbands not to respond to any questions posed by Journalists. He specifically told them not to implicate him.
On February 9, he invited Mrs. Chinwe and her husband and pleaded with them not to respond to any inquiry by media men.
On Sunday, February 15, in the presence of the parishioners, he threatened to kill the reporter and other Journalists if they should go ahead to expose him. He even threatened to close down the church if he’s removed. “You know I am a spiritual man. I can kill, curse or disgrace anybody,” he boasted.
An elder who pleaded anonymity said “the audacity with which Fr. Cornelius Amadi brags in sexual immorality leaves much to be desired.”
“How many people do you see in the church these days, to listen to empty sermons? He’s so notorious with his sexual relationship with young girls and married women, even among non-catholics, so much so that his character is too loud for us to hear his sermons. It appears his mission here is to sleep with all the women. He has lost credibility to the extent that whenever he’s passing through the villages, instead of the normal ‘hello father’s, what you will hear is ‘our inlaw’. He forgot that this is a rural community.”
In the past two months, the priest has been struggling to wriggle out of the sex scandal hanging on his neck.
He has been holding series of meetings with different people aimed at suppressing the publication. Many people believe that the best option for him is to relocate as he no longer commands reputation from the parishioners and the general public.
A member of the community simply identified as Mr. Okere said the story about the priest’s addiction to copulation and immorality could be traced to his former parishes. He’s not bothered by the souls he damaged.
Some interviewed by this publication agreed that apart from the immediate past parish priest, Fr. Remigius Ebiziem, others lack spiritual discipline.
“Fr. Ebiziem built this cathedral from the scratch with the sponsorship of our first indigenous priest and his American friends. He was spiritually gifted and delivered many from evil spirits. He left with respect and dignity. Now, we are back to Egypt.”
Investigation showed that apart from sexual immorality, people of the community are yet to come to terms why he should meddle in land disputes that have nothing to do with the church. He’s also not popular among the people because of “demi-god” posture. The case of elder Simeon Onyenwe, the oldest man in Umuogba village and a staunch Catholic, still baffles the people. When the man died last year, all necessary payments were made to the priest. A date was fixed for his burial mass and interment. Few hours to the burial, Fr. Amadi cancelled the whole thing, claiming that he heard Canon shots from the village. “But he was quick to celebrate mass for one Mrs. Theresa Ikeagwuonu, a woman that brought a deadly deity that killed people including her first son. That’s the kind of priest we have here,” the source said.
St. Paul’s Catholic parish was elevated to the present status by His Grace, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna in 2006.
Fr. Amadi was posted to the parish in 2024. Upon his arrival, many people welcomed him. Within a few days many parents tried to acquaint with him as the priest who administered the sacrament of baptism on their children in 2009, when he was on a relief duty.
Among those he baptised was Ifunanya, who he later turned to a sex toy.
It is the same story with a girl from Umuolokoche village, who was deeply in love with his cook. Unknown to the cook, Fr. Amadi was also interested in the girl. He sacked his cook and brought in the girl as his cook.
The Archdiocese is yet to act on the matter.
Culled from Verbatim magazine
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The author of this article is solely responsible for every claim he made in it. His views are also personal to him and not of CrimeFacts News.
