Hearing had continued the next day by 9:00 am on the dot. 
“All rise!” the court clerk bellowed as soon as the judge entered the court room. “Honorable Justice Steven Damijo, presiding.” 
All rose as the judge entered and took his seat. 
“You may sit down,” the judge said, sitting down. “May the counsels to the plaintiffs, please approach the bench?” 
The counsels took their seat.
“Yes, your witness, Barrister Nwaka,” the judge said to the prosecuting counsel.
“I call on pastor Okechukwu,” the prosecuting counsel said. As soon as the popular man of God appeared, the entire court room erupted into cheery applause. Placing his hand on the bible, he took the oath.
“Is it your testimony pastor Okechukwu that on the 27th of April you saw Miss Frankie Nnamani, running at a neck breaking speed at about 2:00 pm at Holy Trinity medical center?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Is it also your testimony that on the said date and time, you saw Senator Nnamani and his wife Doris, running after Miss Nnamani and shouting, ‘catch her’, ‘catch her.’”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Pastor, can you please in your own words, in the next few minutes, tell this honorable court what you saw and what happened?”
“On the 27th of April, I was at Holy Trinity medical center to see the resident doctor on appointment. But just as I stepped out of the car, I saw a teenager running madly towards the gate. She was so confused and bent on getting away that she collided into me.”
“She collided into you?”
“Yes.”
“Did she stop?”
“Yes, no. I mean, she stopped briefly to tender an apology but then she saw her parents, I mean, Senator Nnamani and his wife coming after her, so she left the documents scattered all over the place and ran away.”
“Yes, pastor, you said you saw Senator Nnamani and his wife chasing the girl, did they catch up with her?”
“No, I saw them running after her but to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think they did. She was very fast.”
“What did they do next?”
“Senator Nnamani was so mad and blamed his wife for not keeping an eye on the girl and so he left her behind at the clinic.”
“Wait a minute pastor, do you mean to tell this honorable court that Senator Nnamani actually left his wife behind at the clinic?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Go on. When was the first time you met Miss Frankie?”
“That was my first meeting with her, although, one of her friends, Ijeoma sent me a mail a few days ago, telling me of her ordeals. But ever since then, I’ve not communicated or seen her in person until that day she collided with me at the clinic but then I didn’t know who she was. 3 days or so later after the incident, we had met at the library by chance and we struck up acquaintance.”
“Yes, go on. What was her medical condition when you met her?”
“She was hungry, tired and had bruises all over her body and she complained of a mild ache.”
“What did you do?”
“I took her to a fast food joint for a bite and later to a clinic for medical attention.”
“Did you get a medical report?”
“Yes.”
“Is this the medical report?” The prosecuting counsel asked, waving a paper around.
“Yes.”
“My lord I wish to tender this report as evidence.”
“Show to the defense counsel.”
“Objection,” the defense council cried. “My lord, one will like to know the source of the report.”
“The source of the report is no other source than Holy Trinity medical center that treated Miss Nnamani on the 30th of April for minor injuries she sustained as a result of the beatings she received from her father, Chief Alfred Nnamani.”
“Evidence is hereby admitted in court. You may continue, prosecuting counsel.”
“Thank you, my lord. Pastor, after you have taken her to the hospital for medical attention, what did you do next?”
“I’d taken her home and handed her over to my wife. Immediately, I drove over to see Senator Nnamani and I told him his daughter is with me.”
“What did he say when you told him you have his daughter with you?”
“He told me to return her immediately else he will sue me for abduction.”
“So, what happened next? Did you return the girl?”
“In the night that same day, a band of armed robbers stormed my house and the rest is now history”
“Wait a minute, pastor. Don’t run away so fast. What do you mean by the rest being history?”
“I mean in the night that same day, Senator Nnamani sent his thugs to my house to kidnap Frankie but they were outrun by my superior military might. They were arrested and subsequently handed over to the police.”
“Did they make a statement?”
“Yes, they did. In a confessional statement witnessed by a lot of people before and even after the police arrived, they said they were sent by Senator Nnamani to abduct Frankie.”
“Did you make a statement to the police?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Is this your statement?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Did Frankie recognize any of the suspects?”
“Yes, yes, she recognized one of them.”
“Did you make a video recording of the incident?”
“Yes, my security cameras captured it all, including their confessional statement and the arrival of the police.’
“Is this the video recording?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“My lord, I wish to play this video.”
“Am not going to let that in, Barrister Nwaka, we’ve had plenty of time for discovery here.”
“I’m sorry,” the pastor apologized. “Now pastor, did Miss Nnamani at any point in time express a desire to kill herself?”
“Oh, not at all. She was demoralized owing to her condition, no doubt. But she was upbeat and enthusiastic, her only preoccupation was to keep her baby.”
“That means she was not feeling suicidal?’
“No, of course, not.”
“Thank you, pastor for coming.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Any question for the Pastor, Mr. Brown?”
“Yes, yes,” Barr. Brown said, standing up and walking towards the pastor in the witness box. “Pastor, you are a minister of God, so what were you doing at an abortion referral center?”
“I work with doctors apart from my pastoral work. I go from school to school and from one hospital to another trying to garner support for unborn children and abstinence only sex education.”
“You said you saw her running and so you concluded she was being pressurized to have an abortion, does that sound logical? I mean, how can you conclude just because you saw her running?”
“I didn’t just see her running and came to conclusion. She was being pursued by her parents, Senator Nnamani and his wife, though she later confided in me that it was because she refused to have an abortion.”
“What if I turn out contrary evidence that she was the one asking for the abortion?”
“Whatever, all I know is I saw three people running madly towards the gate - Chief, his wife and Frankie.”
“Pastor, do you know the plaintiff is still a minor and therefore illegal to keep her in your house without parental consent?”
“I didn’t keep her against her will, besides I did not keep her in my house. She is staying at the home for unwed mothers. The home is made for people like her.”
“Pastor, you said she was feeling demoralized, does that mean she was feeling suicidal too?”
“No, not at all,” the pastor said hurriedly. She was feeling demoralized simply because she was not allowed to keep her baby and because she was helpless, that’s all. Anybody in her position will be.”
“That’s all for the witness for now, my lord.”