Mrs. Brenda Nwanguma, a worker
with Inner City Mission for Children (ICM4C), under the Christ Embassy Church
canopy, is threatening to drag the church and Pastor Kenechukwu Kanu aka Kaycee
to court.
Nwanguma, a member of the Christ
Embassy Church, is demanding for justice in respect of alleged workplace
harassment, intimidation, blackmail, and libel. Nwanguma’s lawyer, Samuel
Akpologun, had already petitioned the church.
Nwanguma is threatening to take
the church and Pastor Kaycee to court if nothing was done to address and back.
Earlier this year, Nwanguma, a
mother of three, had accused Pastor Kaycee of sexually harassing and
victimizing her.
While Nwanguma accused Kaycee, a
father of two, of sexual harassment, Kaycee countered by calling her a “loose
woman who has slept with at least two to three men here. Her husband doesn’t
know her. He should go and put his house in order. I’m a man of the cloth.
There are certain things I shouldn’t say.”
Nwanguma had further accused
Kaycee of having a penchant for sexually harassing and even succeeding in
sleeping with women in the organization.
Nwanguma noted that it was
because she rebuffed Kaycee’s sexual advances that led to her being victimized.
She has decided to take the
matter to court after endlessly waiting to hear from the committee constituted
by the church to look into the allegations she raised.
Part of Akpologun’s petition
states: “It is our brief that on April 3, 2017, our client, Brenda Nwanguma,
who is a staff in your organization, made a complaint to the Head of Administration
of the said mission, Pastor Ifeoma Chiemeka, through electronic mail on the
following; sexual harassment."
She said that Pastor Kaycee, who
is the head of the operation of this said mission, under which our client has
worked as a staff, had been sexually harassing our client by making demands to
have carnal knowledge of her in return for facilitating her transfer from a
department with an oppressive boss, to another department.”
The lawyer further stated that
because his client turned down Kaycee’s sexual advances, the cleric resorted to
victimizing her by posting and transferring her twice, within the space of a
month.
Akpologun noted: “The first
vindictive transfer was made on January 3, 2017, whereby she was transferred to
the Media Sub-department to act as a librarian. The second transfer was made
via mail dated January 25, 2017. She was moved to the School Pastoral Care Unit
to act as the pastoral care coordinator, thus effectively bringing her under
the same boss, about whom our client had earlier complained.”
Speaking on discrimination,
intimidation, and blackmail of his client, the lawyer noted that when his
client was forced to report the situation to the Director of the Mission, Mrs.
Omoh Alabi, the director allegedly refused, neglected, or omitted to respond to
Nwanguma’s complaint. She also allegedly did not take any step to address or
investigate the grave allegations contained in the email sent by Nwanguma to
her on January 26, 2017.
Akpologun claimed that Omoh
blackmailed and intimidated his client until she had to apologize to Kaycee and
sent a copy of the letter of apology to Omoh before she was given an audience.
Thereafter, Omoh asked Nwanguma
not to resume at work until “high authorities” had looked into her case and
determined where exactly she would be working.
“It has been more than nine
months now since Nwanguma was promised that her case would be looked into. Yet
nothing had been done in that regard,” stated Akpologun.
The lawyer further stated that it
was also his brief that since Omoh asked his client to stay away from work, his
client had not been given any further instruction or information.
He also argued that his client’s
salary, since she was asked to stay away, had been unduly withheld for no just
cause for nine months now.
He added: “When on April 28,
2017, the situation was reported to
The New Telegraph; the management
of the Mission convened a panel, invited our client and promised to look into
her case after receiving evidence from her. She was further instructed to stay
away from work till the outcome of the panel. Since then, till date, the said
management has neither got in touch with our client nor paid her salaries due.
“It is our further brief that
Pastor Kaycee caused a libelous publication to be made in the said New
Telegraph Newspaper against our client. In the said publication of April 28,
2017, Pastor Kaycee falsely and maliciously alleged that our client is an
adulterous woman, who had slept with more than two staff of the Mission. We
have the instruction of our client to demand as follows; that the salaries of
our client for the months of February to November be paid within 14 days."
"That the report of the
panel held in May 2017, be made available to our client through our office.
That you either investigate the libelous publication made by Pastor Kaycee or
prevailed on him to make a public apology for same which said apology must be
published in the New Telegraph, where the libelous publication was made. That
our client is restored to her job forthwith. Otherwise, we may be compelled to
advise our client to seek necessary legal redress in the court without further
notifying you.”
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